PHChina started bringing back the world's first lunar samples from the far side of the moon on Tuesday as part of the Chang'e-6 mission, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
The ascender of the Chang'e-6 spacecraft took off at 7:48 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the moon's surface to dock with the orbiter and will eventually bring the samples back to Earth. The 3000N engine operated for about six minutes and successfully sent the ascender into the designated lunar orbit.
The Chang'e-6 lunar probe was launched on May 3. Its lander-ascender combo reached the moon on June 2. The probe spent 48 hours and completed intelligent rapid sampling in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, and then encapsulated the samples into storage devices carried by the ascender according to plan.
The ascender of the Chang'e-6 spacecraft took off at 7:48 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the moon's surface to dock with the orbiter and will eventually bring the samples back to Earth. The 3000N engine operated for about six minutes and successfully sent the ascender into the designated lunar orbit.
The Chang'e-6 lunar probe was launched on May 3. Its lander-ascender combo reached the moon on June 2. The probe spent 48 hours and completed intelligent rapid sampling in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, and then encapsulated the samples into storage devices carried by the ascender according to plan.