The dark side of the Moon is wild and mysterious.
Still hidden from Earth, it is only when space The Luna 3 probe took the first photos in 1959 that allowed us to see its mountains and deep craters.
And 65 years later, we still don’t know much about it.
That is why The Chinese Chang’e 6 mission is so exciting. It aims to visit the same area near the South Pole visited by its predecessor Chang’e 4 in 2019.
But this time, the goal is to bring back a sample of the lunar surface, the first from the far side.
The planned destination is the Aitken Basin, a 2,500 km wide impact crater, one of the oldest in the solar system.
It is so large that it contains smaller craters, a time capsule of asteroid activity going back billions of years.
Research mission
Scientists hope to determine how long ago the craters formed. According to one theory, the inner solar system was hit by successive waves of asteroids just under 4 million years ago.
But if the Aitken Basin is older, that would call into question the “heavy bombardment” theory.
The lunar sample could reveal more about volcanic activity on the far side, which would have been on a smaller scale and stopped earlier than on the side of the moon we see.
Learn more:
China sends Chang’e-6 spacecraft to the far side of the Moon
What you need to know about NASA and the Chinese space race
And it could, by chance, contain some material from the depths of the Moon, brought to the surface by an ancient eruption. That would be scientific gold.
Beyond science, China look for traces of water.
The checkered flag of Space Race 2
An abundant source of ice in the deeply shadowed craters of the South Pole would help maintain a human base on the Moon, providing hydration, oxygen and the ingredients needed for rocket fuel.
Other countries – and private companies – are also heading south. This is the checkered flag of the space race 2.0.
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This time it is not a cold war, but a competition for resources. Water now, minerals tomorrow.
The Moon was neglected for decades as space agencies peered deeper into the solar system. This is now the ideal place.
