Jump to content

Chang'e 6

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by N Jeevan (talk | contribs) at 06:33, 31 August 2023 (→See also). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Chang'e 6
Mission typeSurface sample return
OperatorCNSA
COSPAR ID2024-083A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.59627Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration~53 days
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerCAST
Launch mass8,200 kg (18,100 lb)[1]
Start of mission
Launch dateMay 2024[2][3][4]
RocketLong March 5
Launch siteWenchang
Moon lander
Landing siteSouthern edge of Apollo Basin
43°00′S 154°00′W / 43.0°S 154.0°W / -43.0; -154.0[4]

Chang'e 6 (Chinese: 嫦娥六号; pinyin: Cháng'é liùhào) is a planned robotic Chinese lunar exploration mission that is expected to launch in 2024 and perform China's second sample return mission.[5][3] Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e.

Overview

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is designed to be conducted in four[6] phases of incremental technological advancement: The first is reaching lunar orbit, completed by Chang'e 1 in 2007 and Chang'e 2 in 2010. The second is landing and roving on the Moon, as Chang'e 3 did in 2013 and Chang'e 4 did in 2019. The third is collecting lunar samples from the near-side and sending them to Earth, completed by Chang'e 5 in 2020 and planned for the Chang'e 6 mission. The fourth phase consists of development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole.[6][7][8] The program aims to facilitate a crewed lunar landing in the 2030s and possibly build an outpost near the lunar south pole.[9]

Mission architecture

Chang'e 6 was built as a copy and backup of Chang'e 5.[10] The mission is reported to consist of four modules: the lander will collect about 2 kg (4.4 lb) of samples from 2 metres (6.6 ft) below the surface[11] and place them in an attached ascent vehicle to be launched into lunar orbit. The ascent vehicle will then make a fully autonomous and robotic rendezvous and dock with an orbiter where the samples will be robotically transferred into a sample-return capsule for their delivery to Earth.[12][13] The estimated launch mass is 8,200 kg (18,100 lb)—the lander is projected to be 3,200 kg (7,100 lb) and the ascent vehicle is about 700 kg (1,500 lb).[1][12][14]

Science payloads

In October 2018, Chinese officials announced that they will call for international partners to propose an additional payload up to 10 kg (22 lb) to be included in this mission.[15] In November 2022 it was announced that the mission would carry payloads from four international partners:[16]

  • a French instrument called DORN (Detection of Outgassing Radon) to study the transport of lunar dust and other volatiles between the lunar regolith and the lunar exosphere, including the water cycle;[17]
  • an Italian instrument called INRRI (INstrument for landing-Roving laser Retroreflector Investigations) consisting in a passive laser retro-reflector to be used for laser range-finding of the lander, similar to those used on the Schiaparelli and InSight missions;
  • the Swedish NILS (Negative Ions on Lunar Surface), an instrument to detect and measure negative ions reflected by the lunar surface;[18]
  • the Pakistani ICECUBE-Q cubesat, to detect ice traces on the lunar surface.

Launch

The probe is scheduled to be launched by a Long March 5 rocket in 2024, from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island.[5][3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6. Gunter Dirk Krebs, Gunter's Space Page. Accessed on 9 January 2019.
  2. ^ Andrew Jones [@AJ_FI] (25 April 2023). "China's Chang'e-6 sample return mission (a first ever lunar far side sample-return) is scheduled to launch in May 2024, and expected to take 53 days from launch to return module touchdown. Targeting southern area of Apollo basin (~43º S, 154º W)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c Jones, Andrew (8 July 2021). "China's Chang'e 6 mission will collect lunar samples from the far side of the moon by 2024". Space.com. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "大陸「嫦娥六號」明年5月發射 擬帶回月球背面岩石採樣" (in Traditional Chinese). 聯合報. 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  5. ^ a b China N' Asia Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (24 November 2022). "Update:
    2024 Queqiao-2 data relay
    2025 Chang'e-6 lunar sample return from far side
    2026 Chang'e-7 lunar landing in south pole
    2028 Chang'e-8 basic model of lunar research station"     (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b Chang'e 4 press conference. CNSA, broadcast on 14 January 2019.
  7. ^ China's Planning for Deep Space Exploration and Lunar Exploration before 2030. (PDF) XU Lin, ZOU Yongliao, JIA Yingzhuo. Space Sci., 2018, 38(5): 591–592. doi:10.11728/cjss2018.05.591
  8. ^ A Tentative Plan of China to Establish a Lunar Research Station in the Next Ten Years. Zou, Yongliao; Xu, Lin; Jia, Yingzhuo. 42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 14–22 July 2018, in Pasadena, California, USA, Abstract id. B3.1-34-18.
  9. ^ China lays out its ambitions to colonize the moon and build a "lunar palace". Echo Huang, Quartz. 26 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Apollo 13 Crew". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  11. ^ Andrew Jones (7 June 2017). "China confirms landing site for Chang'e-5 Moon sample return". GB Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  12. ^ a b Future Chinese Lunar Missions. David R. Williams, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Accessed on 30 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Chang'e 5 test mission". Spaceflight101.com. 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  14. ^ China well prepared to launch Chang e-5 lunar probe in 2017: top scientist. China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). 25 October 2016.
  15. ^ China invites international cooperation in Chang'e-6 Moon sample return mission Archived 2019-12-17 at the Wayback Machine. Andrew Jones, "GB Times". 1 October 2018.
  16. ^ CNSA Watcher [@CNSAWatcher] (25 November 2022). "On Nov 24, CNSA confirmed Chang'e 6 lunar landing mission will launch in 2025. Countries participating: China, EU, Italy, France, Sweden Pakistan. Also confirmed by CNSA: "hopper" probes will explore shadowed craters for iced water in Chang'e 7 & 8" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "State visit of President Macron to China - In 2023, Chang'e 6 will deploy the French DORN instrument on the Moon to study the lunar exosphere". CNES. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  18. ^ Canu-Blot, Romain; Wieser, Martin; Barabash, Stash (23 September 2022). "The Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS): first dedicated negative ion instrument on the Chang'E-6 mission to the Moon". 16th Europlanet Science Congress 2022. Bibcode:2022EPSC...16..992C. doi:10.5194/epsc2022-992.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chang%27e_6&oldid=1173092691"