China's lunar probe Chang'e-6 arrives launch pad for 2024 moon mission

China's lunar probe Chang'e-6 has arrived in Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on Wednesday.

At present, the launch site facilities are in good condition, with all preparations proceeding well as planned. The Chang'e-6 lunar probe is scheduled to collect samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon in the first half of 2024, said the CNSA. 

The Chang'e-6 mission will make breakthroughs for key technologies such as the design and control in the lunar retrograde orbit, intelligent sampling, take-off and ascent on the back of the moon, implementing automatic sampling and returning from the far side of the moon. During the mission, scientific exploration of the landing zone and international cooperation will also be carried out.

Components of the Chang'e-6 probe, carried by the An-124 and Y-20 transport aircraft, arrived at the Meilan International Airport in Haikou City on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, before they were transported by road to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site some 80 kilometers away. Pre-launch tests will be carried out as planned, the CNSA added.

The far side of the moon is older than the near side. However, all of the 10 lunar sampling returns carried out so far were on the near side of the moon. As one of the three major lunar terranes, the South Pole-Aitken Basin is the largest and oldest recognized impact basin.

The Chang'e-6 mission is to collect lunar samples from different regions and ages and return Earth with them, thus improving humans' understanding of the Earth's moon.

The mission will also carry payloads and satellite programs from international payloads.

Moreover, China will send the Chang'e-7 probe around 2026 to implement resource exploration of the lunar south pole and the Chang'e-8 around 2028 to conduct experiments on lunar resource utilization and to build the basic model of the International Lunar Research Station, according to China's lunar exploration blueprint.

China has finished its three-step lunar exploration program of orbiting, landing and returning, with the Chang'e-5 lunar probe bringing back 1,731g of samples from the moon on December 17, 2020.