Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, China National Space Administration, Beijing, China


Chang’e-6 landed on the Moon

Jun 2, 2024

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chang’e-6 lunar lander began the powered descent on 1 June 2024, at 22:09 UTC (2 June, at 06:09 China Standard Time) and landed in the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon, on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 UTC (2 June, at 06:23 China Standard Time). The Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) aims to collect soil samples and return them to Earth, as well as conduct scientific measurements of the lunar environment.
 

Chang’e-6 landing (Onboard camera view)

Jun 2, 2024

The Chang’e-6 lunar lander landed in the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon, on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 UTC (2 June, at 06:23 China Standard Time).
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)
 

Jun 4, 2024

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chang’e-6 lunar lander has successfully transferred into the lunar ascender module the soil samples collected from the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon. On 3 June 2024, at 23:38 UTC (4 June, at 07:38 China Standard Time), the Chang’e-6 lunar ascender has lifted off from the Apollo crater and successfully entered the planned lunar orbit after about 6 minutes.
 

Chang’e-6’s panoramic image from the far side of the Moon

Jun 5, 2024

Chang’e-6 lunar lander’s panoramic camera captured high-definition images of the landing site in the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China National Space Administration (CNSA)
 

Chang’e-6 docking and sample transfer

Jun 6, 2024

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chang’e-6 lunar ascender docked to the orbiter on 6 June 2024, at 06:48 UTC (14:48 China Standard Time) and transferred the samples collected from the far side of the Moon into the return capsule at 07:24 UTC (15:24 China Standard Time).
 

Chang’e-6 observed by NASA’s LRO

Jun 14, 2024

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has imaged CNSA’s Chang’e-6 lunar lander in the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon, on 7 June 2024. The Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) collected soil samples and will return them to Earth, as well as conducted scientific measurements of the lunar environment.
 

Chang’e-6 landing and capsule recovery

Jun 25, 2024

The Chang’e-6 capsule re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and successfully landed under a parachute in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, on 25 June 2024, at 06:07 UTC (14:07 local time). The Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) landed on and collected soil samples from the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon.
 

Chang’e-6 lunar samples extracted from the capsule

Jun 26, 2024

The return capsule of the Chang’e-6 lunar mission was opened at the China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing, China, on 26 June 2024. The samples have been transferred to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), where “researchers involved with the ground application system will later carry out work related to sample storage, analysis and research as planned”.
 

Chang’e-6 returned ~2kg of samples from the far side of the Moon

Jun 28, 2024

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) collected 1,935.3 grams of samples from the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin, on the far side of the Moon.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
Chang’e-6 returned 1,935.3 grams of samples
 

Chang’e-5 returned a hydrated mineral

Aug 23, 2024

According to the study “Evidence of a hydrated mineral enriched in water and ammonium molecules in the Chang’e-5 lunar sample” published in Nature Astronomy, a hydrated mineral was discovered in lunar soil samples returned by the Chang’e-5 mission. Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)“Evidence of a hydrated mineral enriched in water and ammonium molecules in the Chang’e-5 lunar sample”Shifeng Jin, Munan Hao, Zhongnan Guo, Bohao Yin, Yuxin Ma, Lijun Deng, Xu Chen, Yanpeng Song, Cheng Cao, Congcong Chai, Qi Wei, Yunqi Ma, Jiangang Guo & Xiaolong Chen
 

Chang’e-5 samples inspire in situ water production on the Moon

Aug 23, 2024

According to the study “Massive Water Production from Lunar Ilmenite through Reaction with Endogenous Hydrogen” published in The Innovation, it might be possible to produce 51–76 mg of water by melting 1g of lunar regolith at temperatures above 1200 K.Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)“Massive Water Production from Lunar Ilmenite through Reaction with Endogenous Hydrogen”Xiao Chen, Shiyu Yang, Guoxin Chen, Weixu, Lijian Song, Ao Li, Hangbo Ce Yin, Weixing Xia, Meng Gao, Ming Li, Haichen Wu, Junfeng Cui, Lei Zhang, Lijing Miao, Xiaoxue Shui, Weiping Xie, Peiling Ke, Yongjiang Huang, Jianfei Sun, Bingnan Yao, Min Ji, Mingliang Xiang, Yan Zhang, Shaofan Zhao, Wei Yao, Zhigang Zou, Mengfei Yang, Weihua Wang, Juntao Huo, Jun-Qiang Wang, Haiyang BaiThe Innovation, DOI:10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100690
 
First study of Chang’e-6 samples from the far side of the Moon

Sep 22, 2024

The first study of the samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) from the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin, on the far side of the Moon, was published on 16 September 2024 in the journal National Science Review. Credit: Nature of the lunar farside samples returned by the Chang’e-6 missionChunlai Li, Hao Hu, Meng-Fei Yang, Jianjun Liu, Qin Zhou, Xin Ren, Bin Liu, Dawei Liu, Xingguo Zeng, Wei Zuo, Guangliang Zhang, Hongbo Zhang, Saihong Yang, Qiong Wang, Xiangjin Deng, Xingye Gao, Yan Su, Weibin Wen, Ziyuan OuyangNational Science Review, DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwae328
 

Chang’e-6 samples reveal reinforced lunar dynamo

Jan 22, 2025

Samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) from the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin, on the far side of the Moon, revealed new data about the evolution of the lunar dynamo.Credit:A reinforced lunar dynamo recorded by Chang'e-6 farside basaltShuhui Cai, Kaixian Qi, Saihong Yang, Jie Fang, Pingyuan Shi, Zhongshan Shen, Min Zhang, Huafeng Qin, Chi Zhang, Xiaoguang Li, Fangfang Chen, Yi Chen, Jinhua Li, Huaiyu He, Chenglong Deng, Chunlai Li, Yongxin Pan & Rixiang Zhu Nature DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08526-2
 
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