The Fate of Chang’e 6 on the Far Side of the Moon

The Chang’e 6 spacecraft, part of China’s Chang’e 6 mission, successfully brought the first sample from the dark side of the Moon to Earth. Launched on May 3, the mission consists of four modules: the orbiter, the lander, the small rocket, and the gyrosphere capsule. The lander, which landed at Apollo crater on June 1, scooped and drilled samples from the dark side of the Moon, then placed them on a rocket to launch into orbit. The sample arrived on Earth on June 25, as expected, landing in Inner Mongolia.

The Chang’e 6 lander remains on the Moon, equipped with equipment such as a panoramic camera and a small robotic rover. The fate of the lander was reported by the French space agency CNES, which designed the radon detector called DORN for the mission. The lander was left dormant after the rocket took off from the lunar surface.

The rocket that carried samples back from the Moon to the orbiting ship has also been decommissioned, likely controlled to collide with the Moon after transferring the samples. This sampling procedure is similar to the Chang’e 5 mission that returned samples from the far side of the Moon in late 2020. The samples collected from Chang’e 6 will soon be transferred to a dedicated facility for storage, analysis, and distribution.

The Thuoc Kieu 2 relay satellite, which coordinates the mission to the dark side of the Moon, will continue orbiting to support the Chang’e 4 mission and the upcoming Chang’e 7 mission targeting the lunar south pole in 2026. Unlike earlier Chang’e missions, Chang’e 6 is not equipped with radioisotope heaters necessary for long-term operation to survive the extreme cold temperatures of the lunar night. Nighttime in the Apollo Crater began on June 11 and ended on June 26, leaving the Chang’e 6 lander dormant until its next period of sunlight.