MOSCOW, June 2 The landing module of the Chinese Chang'e-6 probe successfully landed on the far side of the Moon, from where it should deliver soil samples to Earth, reports Xinhua News Agency citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
“The combined lander and ascent modules of China's Chang'e-6 probe successfully touched down at a pre-selected landing zone located in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on Sunday morning to collect soil samples from the far side of the Moon,” the agency said in a statement.
The correspondent previously reported that the Long March 5 Y8 rocket launched on Friday from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island in accordance with the schedule at 17.27 local time (12.27 Moscow time). If the mission is successful, the Chang'e-6 spacecraft will deliver soil from the far side of the Moon to Earth for the first time in human history. According to the plan announced by the Chinese National Space Administration, it is planned to deliver about two kilograms of soil samples to Earth.
Chang'e-6 consists of an orbital module, a return module, a lander and a take-off module, the probe is equipped with a payload including a landing camera, a panoramic camera, a mineral spectral analysis instrument and a device for analyzing the structure of lunar soil. In addition, Chang'e-6 is equipped with an international payload, in particular, the French DORN detector for measuring the concentration of radon gas and its decay products on the surface of the natural satellite of the Earth, the NILS negative ion analyzer from the European Space Agency, the Italian laser corner reflector and the Pakistani satellite ICUBE-Q.
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