China\u2019s Chang\u2019e 6 landed on and sampled the far side of the Moon while the Shenzhou-18 crew performed a record-breaking spacewalk at the Tiangong Space Station. Additionally, 10 more rockets were launched from the country in the last few weeks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Chang\u2019e 6 lands on the far side of the Moon<\/p>\n
China\u2019s sixth uncrewed lunar exploration mission, Chang\u2019e 6, was launched on a Chang Zheng 5 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China. Liftoff occurred on May 3 at 09:27 UTC.<\/p>\n
The Chang\u2019e 6 vehicle consists of four main parts: the orbiter, the lander, the ascent vehicle, and the sample return capsule. In addition to Chinese science payloads, the mission features multiple international contributions. The lander is outfitted with a French and a Swedish science instrument as well as two Italian laser retro-reflectors. Moreover, the spacecraft released a Pakistani CubeSat called ICUBE-Q a few days after launch.<\/p>\n
After separating from the orbiter in late May, the lander touched down in the Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon on June 1 at 22:23 UTC. Once on the Moon, the lander took samples and deployed a previously undisclosed mini rover which took a photo of the lander on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
Two days after landing, the ascent vehicle launched from the Moon on its way back to the orbiter, with liftoff on June 3 at 23:38 UTC. The two docked in lunar orbit on June 6 at 06:48 UTC. The ascent spacecraft then transferred the collected sample to the return capsule shortly afterward.<\/p>\n