Jun 3, 2024
The far side of the moon has long been portrayed in story and song as a mystery. But it may soon reveal some of its secrets, thanks to China’s Chang'e-6 spacecraft. It landed on the never-seen side early Sunday morning.
Earth’s lone moon spins much like Earth. However, it does so at nearly the same rate that it orbits our planet. As a result, we only see the sphere’s front. The backside always faces outer space. It’s also much harder to access for terrestrial-based travelers. For the unmanned Chang’e-6 to land there "involve(d) many engineering innovations, high risks and great difficulty," the China National Space Administration said in a statement.
The mission launched May 3. Chang’e-6 then orbited the moon for days. It was looking for the ideal spot and right flight path. Finally, it touched down in the moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin. Before settling, it hovered over the topography, using a laser 3D scanner to map out obstacles.
Chang’e-6 will spend two days on the moon. It'll collect samples of soil and rocks before heading for home. If successful, its trip will have taken 53 days — and gathered mountains of new data for astronomers.
"Everyone is very excited that we might get a look at these rocks no one has ever seen before," Professor John Pernet-Fisher, a specialist in lunar geology at the University of Manchester, told the BBC. "It would help us answer those really big questions, like how are planets formed, why do crusts form, what is the origin of water in the solar system?"
Chang’e-6’s feat marks only the second time a human-made craft has landed successfully on the moon’s far side. The first? China’s Chang’e-4 in 2019.
Reflect: What do you think we can learn from exploring places in space that we have never seen before?
Photo of the Chang'e 6 lunar probe at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan province, from Reuters.
How Do We Measure Sea Level?
This article and video explain why sea levels are rising and how NASA measures sea levels using satellites.
NASA Climate Time Machine
This interactive resource provides four different climate conditions to explore: Arctic Sea Ice over time, predicted Sea Level Rise in four different coastal areas, Carbon Dioxide Concentrations over time, and Global Average Temperature over time.
Investigating Deforestation Through an Earth Systems View Using Landsat
In this lesson plan, students analyze imagery taken from NASA's Landsat satellite, a time-lapse video of deforestation, and a global land cover map to identify the different causes of deforestation.