NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has captured new images of the far side of the moon that have revealed the location of a Chinese spacecraft.
The images obtained by the LRO on June 7 reveal the position of China’s Chang’e 6 sample return spacecraft, which was parked in the Apollo Basin. This geologically rich region of the moon’s surface contains an abundance of basalt, originating from ancient lava flows on Earth’s natural satellite.
Since landing on June 1, Chang’e 6 has been conducting a robotic lunar exploration mission launched by China’s National Space Administration. The Chinese investigation was initially launched in early May.
Nearly a week after Chang’e 6 landed in the Apollo Basin, NASA’s LRO passed over its landing site, allowing it to capture images that revealed the location of the Chinese spacecraft near the rim of a 50-meter-high crater.
With the new images in hand, LRO imaging experts were able to quickly determine the coordinates of Chang’e 6’s position at approximately 42 degrees south latitude and 206 degrees east longitude, and place the probe at an altitude of approximately minus 5,256 meters.
The new images obtained by the LRO were released amid a flurry of recent social media posts falsely linking earlier images obtained by NASA, some dating back to 2010, with the recent Chang’e 6 landing.
Land of the ancient lunar lava flows
Billions of years ago, the area where Chang’e 6 conducts its mission was the location of basaltic lava flows that made their way into the area, where they likely disappeared when they encountered a geological fault believed to exist in the area.
Chang’e 6’s landing site is located about halfway between a pair of prominent dorsum or “wrinkle ridges,” features that are ubiquitous on lunar basalt plains and can sometimes be hundreds of kilometers long. The basalt flow in this area appears to overlap with an earlier flow to the west, which lacks the iron oxide and titanium dioxide as evidenced by the adjacent younger basalt formation.
NASA’s spy in orbit around the moon
Since June 18, 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been observing the moon from its unique eccentric mapping orbit, providing crucial images for creating a 3D map of the lunar surface.
Although the LRO was initially planned for a two-year mission, its operation was expanded to collect data on various scientific questions, including the evolution of the lunar crust and regolith.
The recent photos obtained by the LRO from China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft are not the first time NASA’s ever-watchful eye in lunar orbit has successfully spotted operations on the lunar surface carried out by other countries. Last September, the LRO captured images of the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 at its landing site. Also, in April this year, the LRO managed to capture images of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), an orbital spacecraft operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
Mapping the moon and beyond
In addition to photographing spacecraft sent to the moon by other countries, the LRO has provided an unprecedented amount of information that has helped scientists expand our knowledge of Earth’s natural satellite. Using an array of high-resolution cameras and other powerful instruments, the LRO has managed to map the moon’s surface in an impressive amount of detail, images that NASA has made available to view online.
The LRO has been instrumental in several major discoveries, including the confirmation of water ice in permanently shadowed craters on the moon. Last December, the LRO also sent a laser beam from its laser altimeter instrument to a small device on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Vikram lander, proving that the LRO could be used to locate retroreflectors on the moon’s surface.
Currently, Chang’e 6 is conducting China’s second sample return mission. The samples collected by the lander were transferred to an ascent module and transported to an orbiter where it docked on June 6 for their return to Earth. The Chang’e 6 lander and its associated rover also conducted experiments while operating on the lunar surface.
Additional information about China’s Chang’e 6 mission can be found here, and more about the ongoing activities of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissaince Orbiter can be found on NASA’s official LRO mission page.
Micah Hanks is editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micha@thedebrief.org. Follow his work michahanks.com and on X: @MichaHanks.