China's unmanned lunar probe returned to Earth on Tuesday with lunar rock samples, making China the first country to achieve the feat, state broadcaster China said.
The Chang'e-6 lunar probe's repatriation capsule, or return vehicle, carrying lunar samples landed in Xiziwangqi in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 2:07 p.m. Beijing time (2:07 a.m. EST), according to China Central Television (CCTV). reportThe return to Earth Live Streaming.
“Here I am reporting that China's lunar exploration project Chang'e 6 [is] Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), called it a “complete success” at a press conference. Video Report Shared with outlets.
According to a video report, the orbiter and returner components of the lunar probe orbited the moon for 13 days while awaiting their return to Earth. Together, the two components completed two maneuvers and made one adjustment to their orbit to stay on course for Earth's orbit.
The repatriation capsule then separated from the orbiter in a controlled manner about 5,000 kilometers above the South Atlantic Ocean and descended, according to the media. “Attention! The Chang'e-6 repatriation capsule has separated from the orbiter,” an announcer on the ground declared, according to the video report. The rest of the technical crew responded with applause.
The return craft then entered Earth's atmosphere for the first time at about 1:41 pm Beijing time, at an altitude of about 120 kilometers (about 74.5 miles) and a speed of about 11.2 kilometers (about 7 miles) per second, according to the media. The return craft slowed down and flew out of the atmosphere, then descended and re-entered the atmosphere, slowing down as it descended, the media reported.
The media reported that the parachute opened when the spacecraft was about 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles) above the ground. The video report also said that an announcement had been made that “the brake parachute has been separated from Chang'e-6's return device and the main parachute has been deployed.”
The returnees were then shown parachuting and landing in a large field. Helicopters arrived, and Chinese authorities sealed off the area and planted the Chinese flag. (Related article: “China lands second probe on far side of moon as space race with US intensifies”)
Chinese authorities will fly the capsule to Beijing, where a team of scientists will collect lunar samples from it, study them and store them, the CNSA reported.
Chang'e-6, consisting of an orbiter, return vehicle, lander and ascent vehicle, was launched from Earth on May 3 with the support of a relay satellite. The lander-ascent combination landed as scheduled in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on June 2 to collect lunar samples. According to CCTV reports, the ascent vehicle entered lunar orbit with the samples, and handed them over to the orbiter-return vehicle before landing again on the lunar surface to avoid them becoming space debris.
Chang'e 6 lands on the far side of the moon — Nickname China has become the first country to successfully land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon twice. China became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon with Chang'e 4 in 2019.
However, NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders became the first people to see the far side of the Moon during the Apollo 8 lunar mission in December 1968.
