HELSINKI \u2014 The Chang’e-6 return capsule reentered Earth\u2019s atmosphere early Tuesday, safely delivering unique lunar material expected to provide unique insights into the evolution of the moon.\u00a0<\/p>
The roughly 300-kilogram Chang\u2019e-6 reentry capsule separated from the mission service module 5,000 kilometers away from Earth. The capsule then skipped off the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean at 1:41 a.m. Eastern (0541 UTC) June 25 to decelerate, before making a final descent.<\/p>
The reentry capsule\u2014containing around 2 kilograms of lunar material drilled and scooped from Apollo crater on the far side of the moon\u2014landed in the grasslands of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia at around 2:07 a.m. Teams recovered the capsule shortly after.<\/p>
The event was the final act of a five-spacecraft, 53-day effort to collect the first samples ever collected from the lunar far side and delivered them to Earth. <\/p>
Retrieval of the samples will allow extensive research into the composition and evolution of the far side of the moon. The collected material could provide insight into why the near and far sides are so different, and clues about the history of the early solar system.<\/p>
\u201cChang’e 6 is the first mission in human history to return samples from the far side of the moon, which is a cause for celebration for all humanity,\u201d Long Xiao, a Planetary geoscientist for China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, told SpaceNews<\/em>. <\/p> \u201cI am excited about the future research scientists will conduct on these samples, which will provide valuable insights for addressing many significant lunar science questions. This is a major event for scientists worldwide.\u201d<\/p> The mission was supported by the Queqiao-2<\/a> lunar relay satellite launched in March. Chang\u2019e-6 then launched <\/a>on a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang spaceport May 3. The four-spacecraft stack entered lunar orbit just under five days later. <\/p>