What distinguishes the far side of the Moon and how does it differ from its visible side?

China is the only country to have reached the far side of the moon. It achieved this for the first time in 2019, on the fourth of six lunar exploration missions on Chang’e (the name of the moon goddess in Chinese mythology).

Many countries have already undertaken missions to the Moon, especially the United States through NASA’s manned Apollo program and unmanned landers. But all these events occurred on the visible side of the Moon.

The Chinese National Space Administration described its latest achievements as “An unprecedented achievement in human exploration of the moon.”.

He added that the Chang’e 6 mission included “many engineering innovations, High risks and great difficulties“, especially high temperatures on the far side of the moon.

So what is the difference between the visible and invisible aspects of our natural satellite and why is exploring the latter such a big deal?

From our perspective, the Moon has two sides or hemispheres, one visible and one hidden, also called the “dark side,” although this side is also bathed in sunlight but we cannot see it.

The reason the Moon only shows us one side is because of a phenomenon known as “synchronous rotation.”The satellite takes the same time to rotate around its axis as it does around the Earth.

Sending a spacecraft and landing it there is risky, because it is very difficult to communicate with it once it has crossed over to the Hidden Side.

Upon reaching the far side of the Moon, the module’s signal goes out.

“how We cannot communicate directly with the hidden side of the EarthProfessor Martin Barstow, from the University of Leicester, explained to the British newspaper: “Another ship must go into orbit around the moon to transmit commands from the control center and receive data.” guardian.

To do this, the China National Space Administration used the Queqiao-2 satellite, which it had previously placed in lunar orbit.

Likewise, the lander had to operate an autonomous visual obstacle avoidance system, equipped with a camera that automatically selected safe landing zones according to the brightness or darkness of the lunar surface.

The dark side, or rather the far hemisphere of the Moon, looks very different from what we see from Earth.

Scientists explain this Older, thicker crust, with many pits. There are also a few of those dark basalt “seas” or plains created by lava flows that are clearly visible on the more visible side.

It is believed that a strong impact in the Aitken Basin may have penetrated the crust into the lunar mantle. The Chang’e 6 capsule is expected to bring samples from that layer to Earth.

Professor John Burnett Fisher, a specialist in lunar geology at the University of Manchester, told the BBC: “Everyone is very excited because we can get a look at these rocks that no one has ever seen before.”

Bernett Fisher has analyzed other lunar rocks returned by US Apollo missions and Chinese spacecraft.

Most of them are of volcanic origin, similar to those that we can find in Iceland or Hawaii.

but Materials on the far side of the Moon can have different chemistry.

Bernt Fischer stated that the opportunity exists to analyze rocks from a region completely different from our natural satellite It could answer basic questions about planetary formation.

The Moon’s South Pole is the next frontier for missions to our natural satellite: many countries are interested in understanding that region because there are so many Chances of ice.

Access to water would greatly increase the odds of successfully establishing a human base on the Moon.

In addition to enthusiasm for scientific research, the Chang’e-6 missions also reveal China’s ambitions beyond the moon.

This program is useful practice for another possible goal: Collecting samples from Mars.

While lunar materials promise great scientific benefits in unraveling the mysteries of the solar system, samples from the Red Planet could potentially provide new clues about whether Mars is habitable.

Another noteworthy fact is that the Chang’e-6 mission requires a complex rendezvous maneuver between the probe carrying the samples and the orbital module that will return them.

This procedure is not necessary to recover the material, but it is necessary to take astronauts to the surface of the moon and return them safely to Earth.

The added complexity appears to be a stepping stone toward manned lunar missions.

China announced this last year It plans to launch the first manned mission to the moon before 2030.

Their idea is to take two astronauts to the surface, to meet hours later with a colleague in orbit. This is very similar to what was done with the descent/ascent modules and orbital modules of NASA’s Chang’e-6 and Apollo missions.

China is not thinking about merely being present in the short term, planting flags and leaving footprints on the moon.

Its ambition is more similar to NASA’s Artemis program than NASA’s Apollo program: it wants to launch two separate missions to the APS Basin in 2026 and 2028, including Experiments on lunar soil to 3D print bricks that could be used to build a lunar base.

“The lunar south pole is where we will go to prepare for when we send humans to the moon again,” explained Catherine Joy, professor of lunar and planetary sciences at the University of Manchester.

“Beside Chang’e-7 and 8, several planned NASA missions will also land to determine where and how many volatile elements, including water and water ice, are present in polar soils.

“This material could be useful to future human explorers, so it will be interesting to see what diversity will be found in all planned robotic lunar landers in the coming years.”

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