Chinese engineers did not take precautions to ensure the module survived in extremely cold conditions. China’s Chanye-6 mission successfully delivered the first samples to Earth from the far side of the Moon. This event was an important step in the study of the Moon and in expanding knowledge about its geology and composition.

The Chang’e-6 mission was launched on May 3 and consisted of four spacecraft: an orbiter, a lander, a landing capsule, and an ascent module. The lander touched down in Apollo Crater on June 1; Its main mission was to collect samples from the far side of the Moon by drilling and load them into the Ascension Module for launch into lunar orbit.

The samples eventually reached Earth on June 25 and landed at a test site in Inner Mongolia as planned. This event was a significant achievement for China’s lunar program and opened new opportunities for scientific research.

The descending Chan’e-6 instrument remains on the Moon, along with a panoramic thermal imager and a small lunar rover. Information about the fate of the lander recently came from the French space agency CNES, which provided the mission with the DORN payload to detect radon emissions.

“As planned, DORN was shut down when the platform became disabled shortly before Chang’e-6 lifted off from the lunar surface,” a CNES spokesperson said in an email.

The takeoff of the lander probably caused serious damage to the lander, but the lander was able to film the incident. Accordingly, all actions, including autonomous deployment of the lunar rover and filming of the descending device, were completed before launch. These included another European device that recorded previously undetected charged particles on the lunar surface.

If any activity had taken place after the launch of the ascent vehicle, it would have stopped with the onset of darkness over Apollo Crater. Unlike the active Chanye-3 and Chanye-4 landers on the near and far sides of the Moon, respectively, the Chanye-6 lander did not have the radioisotope generators necessary for long-term lunar activities, thanks to which the module was “survivable”. “The cold of the moonlit night. Night began in Apollo Crater on June 11, and the sun rose again on June 26.

The lift module, which sent samples from the moon to the waiting Chang’e 6 spacecraft in lunar orbit, has also been disabled. Although China’s space authority has not commented on the fate of the lift module, it likely deorbited towards the Moon after docking with the orbital module and transferring samples.

Radio amateur Scott Tilley tracked signals from the device; Their absence indicated that the device had crashed into the lunar surface.

After all other matters were completed, the return capsule and its samples were delivered to Beijing on June 26. In the near future, the samples will be transported to specialized facilities to be stored, analyzed and distributed for research purposes. Scientists from China and other countries have already begun to prepare for the analysis of these unique samples, which could help reveal the secrets of the Moon and its evolution.

The Queqiao 2 lunar relay satellite, which helps facilitate the task of examining samples upon return, will continue to orbit with its scientific payload. It will support the current Chanye-4 mission and the Chanye-7 mission, which will target the Moon’s south pole around 2026. This important event will be the next step in studying the Moon and expanding our knowledge of its geology and composition.