The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured the first image of the Chang’e 6 lander, showing the Moon’s surface changes following the landing.
The Chang’e 6 lander is located between two craters of similar size and is situated on the edge of an eroded crater with a diameter of approximately 50 meters, according to Mark Robinson, the principal investigator of the camera system on the LRO.
The NASA spacecraft, which is orbiting the Moon, detected the lander in the Apollo basin on the far side of the Moon on June 7, about five days after its landing. The spacecraft appears as a small bright cluster in the center of the image.
The far side of the Moon before (left) and after the Chang’e 6 lander touchdown (right). (Photo: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
The LRO camera team calculated that the landing coordinates of the Chang’e 6 lander are -41.6385 degrees latitude, 206.0148 degrees longitude, at an altitude of -5.256 meters relative to the average lunar surface, with a horizontal accuracy estimated to be plus or minus 30 meters.
“The terrain surrounding the lander is brightened due to disturbances from the engines, similar to the impact areas around other lunar landers,” the team stated. Experts also released images of the landing area taken on March 3, 2022, to clarify the differences before and after the Chang’e 6 touched down.
The Chang’e 6 landing site is located in the “Sea of the Moon” — a flat area of solidified volcanic rock — on the southern edge of the Apollo basin. Robinson and colleagues at Arizona State University indicated that basalt lava erupted south of Chaffee crater approximately 3.1 billion years ago and flowed east until it encountered a higher structure.
“Some wrinkle ridges in this area have deformed and uplifted the lunar mare surface. The landing site is situated roughly between two such wrinkle ridges,” the experts explained.
The Chang’e 6 mission launched from Hainan Province, southern China, on May 3, with the goal of bringing samples from the far side of the Moon back to Earth for the first time. After completing the sample collection, the spacecraft departed the lunar surface on June 3 with the valuable cargo. It then successfully docked with the orbiter and transferred the samples into the reentry capsule. The reentry capsule continues to orbit the Moon, waiting for the right moment to begin its journey back to Earth.
This capsule is expected to land on Earth around June 25. With the aid of a parachute, it will touch down at a designated site in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China, concluding a 53-day space mission.
