Change-6 enters lunar orbit before the far side landing attempt

HELSINKI Chinas Change-6 lunar farside sample return spacecraft entered orbit around the moon Tuesday afternoon, another step toward collecting lunar samples.

The Change-6 orbiter completed a braking burn at 22:21 EST on May 7 (0221 UTC May 8), slowing the spacecraft to allow it to be captured by the moons’ gravity, it announce the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The mission launched on May 3 and embarked on an approximately 112-hour journey to the Moon. It is the first attempt to collect samples from the other side of the Moon, promising great scientific benefits.

The orbiter used its 3,000 N engine for the brake burn. The Change-6 spacecraft is understood to be in an elliptical lunar orbit with a periapsis of about 200 kilometers. Change-6 will then launch a 7-kilogram cubesat called Icube-Q into lunar orbit. The main spacecraft will then gradually circle its orbit in preparation for landing.

The mission lander will separate from the spacecraft in the days leading up to the Apollo Crater landing attempt. The landing, although not officially confirmed, is expected to be in early June, as the current lighting conditions over Apollo Crater are not optimal for landing operations and surface

The target landing area lies within the vast, ancient South Pole Aitken Basin (SPA) and is believed to contain material excavated from the moon’s mantle. Analysis of these samples could provide new knowledge and understanding of the moon, particularly its history and the contrast between its near and far hemispheres.

What about shift-6?

The Change-6 mission is expected to take 53 days from launch to landing, according to information released by the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) under the CNSA.

The sunrise over the Apollo crater will occur on May 28. This means that Change-6 will likely attempt to land in early June, once the sun is high enough in the sky over the landing zone. The timing of the attempt will depend on the orbit of the spacecraft and the limitations of surface illumination conditions for generating power.

Sampling operations will be done with Change-5, for which Change-6 is a reused backup, likely to be completed within 48 hours of landing. The samples will be sent to lunar orbit by an ascent vehicle, which will then track the Change-6 orbiter.

Based on the previous mission, the pair will likely rendezvous and dock about two days after launch, and the lift will be discarded a couple more days later. The orbiter would then prepare to leave lunar orbit at a calculated time. It would then release a re-entry capsule just before its return to Earth, around June 25.

The far side of the Moon is never visible to Earth. This is because our planet slows down the moon’s rotation and leaves it locked. Thus, the mission is supported by the Queqiao-2 satellite. Queqiao-2 is operating in a specialized orbit to bounce communications between Change-6 at the far end and ground stations on Earth.

More goals

In addition to its primary purpose of sample return, Change-6 carries payloads for further science. The mission carries international payloads from France, Sweden, Italy, as well as the aforementioned cubesat with the participation of Pakistan.

The lander also carries France’s RadoN (DORN) Degassing Detection Instrument. This will detect radon outgassing from the lunar crust. Sweden, with support from ESA, contributed the Negative Ion to the Lunar Surface (NILS) payload. An Italian passive laser retroreflector is also on board the landing gear.

Images of the spacecraft released after launch also reveal that Change-6 is carrying a small rover.

Change-6 is part of China’s broader lunar goals. The country will continue with two missions to the south pole of the moon. These are Change-7 in 2026 and Change-8 around 2028. The country aims to launch its first manned lunar mission in 2030.

Both sets of missions are part of a plan to establish a permanent lunar base. This project is known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program, planned for the 2030s. Several countries and organizations have joined the project.

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