According to the statement of the Chinese National Cosmic Directorate, the lunar probe, which is the main part of the rover, began to descend from the orbit with the help of a landing apparatus on the morning of June 2.
A lunar carpet made a soft landing in the “Apollo dish” – a crater at the South Pole of the Moon – “Eitken dish”.
After planting on the moon, Rover began to dig the moon surface with the help of a probe and collect samples of soil and rocks using a robotic hand. It is expected that the collection of samples will be completed after 14 hours.
After the collected samples are sealed in the container, they will be delivered from the surface to the orbital satellite and the returned shuttle. Then the returned shuttle will deliver samples to Earth.
Chiang’i 6 will be the first in history of the research mission to gather samples of rocks and soil from the dark surface of the moon.
The dark side of the moon
Since the speed of rotation of the moon around the earth and around itself is the same, the same side of the moon is always turned to the ground. The far side of the moon, which is not visible from the ground, is called the “dark side”.
The term “dark” does not mean the absence of light, but the fact that this area is less known than the closest side of the moon.
Soviet satellite Luna first photographed the dark side of the moon in 1959, and the Soviet Academy of Sciences published a detailed atlas of the dark side of the Moon in 1960.
Astronauts who participated in the American manned lunar expedition “Apollo 8” in 1968 became the first people who personally saw the dark side of the moon.
China is the first country to land on the dark side of the moon
Research missions, named after the Chinese mythological goddess of the Moon “Chany”, began with satellites “Chany-1” and “Chany-2”, sent to lunar orbit in 2007 and 2010. Research missions, the purpose of which was to draw up a map of the moon, were to prepare for a soft landing on the surface.
as part of the Chany-3 mission, in December 2023, Yuita (Jade Rabbit) was planted on the surface of the moon.
as part of the Changi-4 mission, China opened new opportunities by landing Yuit-2 on the dark side of the moon in January 2019.
as part of the Chany-5 mission, China sent its first apparatus to the moon, the purpose of which was to collect samples of rocks and soil. The device returned to Earth in December 2020 with 1.73 kilograms of samples of rocks and soils collected after launch in November 2020.
In the coming years, China plans to continue the studies of the moon with the help of new missions. In this regard, after Chany-6, in 2026, Chany-7 missions were planned for studying the South Pole of the Moon, and in 2027-Chany-8 to verify the possibilities and the availability of natural resources and testing for the construction of the cosmodrome on lunar surface.
since 2030, the country intends to organize manned expeditions to the moon and prepare the ground for further research, creating an international base of lunar research.