Ever wondered how to control an 'excavator' that's 380,000 kilometers away on the moon? 🌕 Well, China's got the answer! Their historic Chang'e-6 mission is making lunar sampling look like a piece of cake (mooncake, anyone? 😄).
The Chang'e-6 mission, which is halfway through with its ascender now orbiting the moon, has pulled off some out-of-this-world engineering feats. But here's the cosmic twist: they're sampling from the moon's far side – the part that's totally invisible from Earth! 🌚 Talk about remote working!
According to Jin Shengyi from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the team had to recreate the probe's working area right here on Earth. \"We built exact replicas of the lunar surface environment, based on data from the Queqiao-2 relay satellite,\" Jin shared. \"It's like having a piece of the moon in our lab!\" 🧪🌌
The researchers analyzed images of the landing site from Chang'e-6 and constructed a digital model. Then, they took it up a notch by creating a full-scale physical replica. Imagine a life-sized lunar playground! 🛸
\"In this reconstructed environment, we placed a sample-gathering mechanism identical to the one on the moon,\" Jin explained. \"We selected sampling points, established strategies, and verified them, all without leaving Earth.\" 🚀🌍
Thanks to their intelligent sampling system, the team picked over 10 sampling points and instructed the robotic arm to get to work—all in one go! 💪🤖 Plus, the probe drilled into the lunar surface to collect samples, a process that took about three hours. Talk about efficiency!
China had previously snagged samples from the moon's near side during the Chang'e-5 mission back in 2020. But working on the far side? That's a whole new lunar ballgame! 🏀🌒
This mission isn't just about rocks and dust; it's a giant leap for lunar exploration and showcases China's stellar capabilities in space technology. Who knows? Maybe the next step is a moon selfie station! 📸🌝
Keep your eyes on the stars, amigos, because space just got a whole lot closer! 🌠✨
Reference(s):
How do China's researchers work its lunar 'excavator' 380,000 km away?
cgtn.com
