China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft has gathered up samples from the far side of the moon and lifted off to begin the trip back to Earth.
An image captured by a camera-equipped rover shows China's Chang'e-6 lander with its robotic arm and a Chinese flag.
If all goes according to plan, the orbiter will leave the moon’s orbit, head back to Earth and drop off the re-entry capsule for retrieval in China’s Inner Mongolia region sometime around June 25. CNSA said scientific readings were also collected, using a lunar mineral spectrometer, a negative ion analyzer, a radon detector and a lunar structure detector. An Italian-built retro-reflector, installed on the top of the lander, served as a position control point that can be used for distance measurement. Data and telemetry were transmitted back to Earth via China’s
Here's a taste of the sampling action from the past couple of days, since the Chang'e-6 landing late on June 1 UTC.The space agency said the Chang’e-6 ascent module lifted off at 7:38 a.m. June 4 Beijing time and fired its engine for about six minutes to reach lunar orbit.
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