Chang'e 6 lands on the Far-side of the Moon

On June 1 at 22:23 UTC, Chang'e 6 successfully landed on the far side of the Moon after a journey of nearly a month since its launch on May 3, 2024. The mission aims to collect and return samples from the Upper Mare Unit, which was formed during the Imbrian era approximately 3.85 to 3 billion years ago. If successful, these samples will be among the oldest ever collected from the Moon and potentially among the oldest collected from any celestial body.

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Interpolated video showing the landing sequence including powered descent of Chang'e 6. Source: Chinese Spaceflight@weibo

Following the landing, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) released a video of the descent and landing sequence. Analysis of this footage indicates that Chang'e 6 approached its landing site from the east, eventually touching down at coordinates (-41.6384576, -153.9856638), as corroborated by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) NAC images. Although the exact landing location is yet to be officially confirmed, it has been identified through visual feature matching.

The high-resolution image on the upper left is a snapshot taken just before landing, providing a detailed view of the lunar surface. The main image, a composite from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), shows the broader context of the landing site, highlighting its position within the surrounding terrain. The NAC image M166854798LC was taken on August 1, 2011, at a resolution of 58 cm.

Approximately two days after landing, which is imminent at the time of writing, Chang'e 6 will commence its ascent phase, aiming to return the samples collected by its drilling and sampling equipment.

I will continue to monitor and report on the progress of Chang'e 6, so stay tuned for more updates in my Lunar Exploration series.

~FIN