Sign In
Learn bits
World Affairs
Mahesh

26/06/24 06:19 AM IST

China’s Chang’e-6 brings back samples from far side of Moon

In News
  • China’s Chang’e-6  recently became the world’s first spacecraft to bring back samples from the part of the Moon that the Earth never gets to see.
Exploring far side of the moon
  • The Moon’s far side is often referred to as the dark side because it cannot be seen from the Earth, not because it does not catch the Sun’s rays.
  • The Moon is tidally locked with the Earth and therefore, we see only one side of the Moon, also known as the near side.
  • The far side has been under the spotlight in recent years as it is very different from the near side.
  • “It has a thicker crust, more craters and fewer maria, or plains where lava once flowed.
  • Examining the samples from the far side can help scientists solve mysteries about the origin and evolution of the Moon — till now, scientists have only been able to analyse samples from the near side.
  • The far-side samples can also give answers to the longstanding question: why is it different from the near side?
  • [G]oing to the far side, getting samples and doing different kinds of geophysical measurements is really important to figuring out this really long, long-standing mystery.
Chang'e-6 mission
  • The Chang’e-6 was a 53-day-long mission.
  • After reaching the Moon’s orbit, the mission’s orbiter circled the natural satellite while its lander descended into the 2,500-kilometre-wide South Pole-Aitken basin on the lunar surface.
  • “The impact that created the basin — among the largest in the history of the solar system — is thought to have dug up material from the lunar mantle.
  • If that material can be retrieved, scientists can learn more about the history of the Moon’s insides.
  • After collecting samples through scooping and drilling, the lander launched an ascent vehicle, which transferred the samples to the orbiter’s service module.
  • This module then returned to the Earth.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

18 Aug

Impact of Ethanol Blending

'E20 petrol, which contains 20% ethanol and is being sold by Indian oil refiners, has been much in the news lately. ' India has achieved its target to blend 20% ethanol per litr

Read More

18 Aug

Uttar Pradesh govt want to take over the 150-year old Krishna shrine

'The Banke Bihari Temple Trust Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly recently.' The Bill allows the formation of a board of government-appointed trustees, incl

Read More

18 Aug

Uttarakhand’s Bill against forced religious conversion

'The Uttarakhand Cabinet approved making the legal provisions against forced religious conversion more stringent in the state, including by raising the duration of jail sentences a

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps