China’s Chang’e-6 probe successfully lands on far side of the moon

CNN ^ | CNN

[aquila48]

China's Chang’e-6 lunar lander successfully touched down on the far side of the moon Sunday morning Beijing time, in a significant step for the ambitious mission that could advance the country’s aspirations of putting astronauts on the moon.

The Chang’e-6 probe landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, where it will begin to collect samples from the lunar surface, the China National Space Administration announced.

China’s most complex robotic lunar endeavor to date, the uncrewed mission aims to return samples to Earth from the moon’s far side for the first time.

The landing marks the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon. China first completed that historic feat in 2019 with its Chang’e-4 probe.

If all goes as planned, the mission — which began on May 3 and is expected to last 53 days — could be a key milestone in China’s push to become a dominant space power.

[BipolarBob]

I keep looking for it in my telescope but I can’t confirm this.

[JSM_Liberty]

You are looking through the wrong end of the telescope, you need to look through the other end of the telescope if you want to see the other side of the moon.

[BipolarBob]

Thanks, I never thought of that!

[bert]

It has long been postulated that the fr side of the moon is made of Blue Cheese rather than the Green Cheese on the earth facing side

[BigFreakinToad]

that be the purpose of them. They will show up in November. The Democrats illegal voting block. Crickets from Republicans.

[libertylover]

How do they get data back? Do they have a satellite orbiting the moon to act as a relay?

[George from New England]

My question too ... just how can one communicate with objects our of range ?

Unless of of course this is all a fantasy and propaganda.

[SecondAmendment]

[SecondAmendment]

> My question too ... just how can one communicate with objects our of range ?

Apparently they ChiComs have a relay satellite in orbit.

[DSH]

I gather that the Chang'e-6 probe has both an orbiter and a lander. So, presumably, the orbiter transmits recorded data (i.e., uploaded from the lander) back to Earth when in the course of its orbit it has established line-of-sight, as it were.

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

And Boeing cancels a launch because of a clock

China eating USA lunch. The next super power is here

[xoxox]

knock-off capital of the world allegedly lands on alleged moon. meh.

[deport]

China eating USA lunch. The next super power is here

***********

Over the span of life on the earth various areas/humans
have had control of the power at that time.

[Scrambler Bob]

They are building a big military base on the back.

They are calling it a rescue station for spaceship-wrecked astronauts.

[gundog]

https://www.astronomy.com/observing/how-do-spacecraft-communicate-from-the-farside-of-the-moon/

[gundog]

Are they building it with radio-controlled, solar powered Tonka toys?

[libertylover]

Thanks.

[aquila48]

From the article... Quite a complex undertaking.

“Chang’e-6 touched down within an impact crater known as the Apollo Basin, located within the sprawling, roughly 2,500-kilometer-diameter South Pole-Aitken Basin, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. It had orbited the moon for about 20 days as part of a larger probe, which is composed of four parts: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a re-entry module.

It is now expected to use a drill and a mechanical arm to gather up to 2 kilograms of moon dust and rocks from the basin, a crater formed some 4 billion years ago.

The probe will spend two days on the far side of the moon, and 14 hours to collect moon soil samples, Xinhua reported.

To complete its mission, the lander will need to robotically stow those samples in an ascent vehicle that made the landing with it.

The ascent vehicle will then return to lunar orbit, where it will dock with and transfer the samples to a re-entry capsule, according to mission information provided by the China National Space Administration.

The re-entry capsule and orbiter will then travel back to Earth’s orbit and separate, allowing the re-entry capsule to make its expected return later this month to the Siziwang Banner Landing Site in China’s rural Inner Mongolia region.

The technically complex mission is made more challenging due to where it is being conducted. The far side of the moon is out of range of normal communications, which means Chang’e-6 must also rely on a satellite that was launched into lunar orbit in March, the Queqiao-2.”

Meanwhile we can’t build a simple floating pier.

[dfwgator]

Chinky’s On The Moon.