China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe landed in Mongolia on Tuesday looking like a burnt marshmallow after blasting through Earth’s atmosphere.
In the warm space probe, the first samples were collected from the far side of the moon and successfully returned to Earth. The landing was the culmination of the China National Space Administration’s Chang’e-6 sample return mission, which launched in May.
Chang’e-6 landed near the Aitken Basin of the moon’s south pole on June 3. Using a robotic arm and drilling tools, Chang’e-6 collected rock and lunar dirt. The sample was shot into lunar orbit on an ascent vehicle, which docked with an orbiter to transfer and deliver the dirt from the moon to Earth.
After sample collection and launch, NASA’s Lunar Exploration Orbiter photographed the Chang’e 6 lander on the rim of an eroded crater 50 meters in diameter.
NASA SPACECRAFT TAKES PHOTOS OF CHINA’S CHANG’E 6 LANDER ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON
On Tuesday, CNSA officials picked up the spacecraft from northern China as local people watched and celebrated the landing.
The landing marks China’s second successful lunar sample return mission. The country’s Chang’e 5 lander also collected and returned samples from another part of the moon visible to Earth, known as the Ocean of Storms. Examination of these samples revealed that the collected rocks were approximately 2 billion years old.
The new samples will be taken to a laboratory for analysis, where teams can determine the age and composition of the lunar material collected.
Original article source: See it: China sends the first samples from the far side of the moon back to Earth
