Beijing: After China’s Chang’e-6 touched down on the far side of the moon early Sunday morning to collect samples, the foreign scientists present expressed their excitement and gratitude for taking their scientific instruments to the moon.
The Chang’e-6 mission carries four payloads developed through international collaboration that will create more opportunities for international scientists and consolidate the human experience in space exploration.
Chang’e-6 carries scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency (ESA)/Sweden.
“Thank you very much for bringing the moon to China,” said French astronomer Silvestre Maurice from the University of Toulouse after watching the landing process in the control room of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Sunday.
“Landing is amazing now. It’s hard to land on a planet, especially on the moon. Don’t think it’s easy. Remember the moon is on the far side of the earth that we can’t see. China even has to do it. . Put another relay to watch the landing they will land somewhere they want.
Supported by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, the Chang’e-6 probe successfully landed at the designated landing site in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin at 18:23. to the China National Space Administration.
“The far side of the moon is very different. The south pole – the Aitken pole – is a large basin. It had an impact a long time ago to remove most of the crust, so we can use as much of the mantle as possible. The moon,” he said.
“As a planetary scientist, the best we can dream is to have a sample in our lab. There is nothing better than having a sample where we can study and really get into the details of our Moon’s story.”
He said that French scientists received lunar samples returned by the Chang’e-5 mission and will conduct research in this area.
“We are very happy to cooperate with China on several projects such as the Chang’e moon program and the Tianwen-1 Mars mission.”
Mathieu Grialou of CNES, the French space agency, said Chang’e-6 would be the first mission to return samples from the far side of the moon. “We are excited to be a small part of this great mission.”
“We are very happy to cooperate with China in this mission because China plays a big role in space today,” said Grialou. “It’s great that we can contribute together to better understand our lunar and solar system.”
The Outgassing RadoN (DORN) device, developed by French scientists and aboard the Chang’e-6 spacecraft, will detect radon isotopes and study the diffusion and diffusion mechanisms of volatile compounds in the lunar environment.
main investigator DORN Pierre-Yves Meslin from France, who witnessed the landing of Chang’e-6, said: “We have been thinking about this moment for many years, months, weeks and days. The moon is seen almost every night in Beijing.”
“We are excited to be on the moon. Our instruments are going to be used. Now the pressure will be on us to succeed in our measure,” said Meslin.
The instrument’s purpose is to study the origin and dynamics of the moon’s exosphere, he said. It will try to measure the radioactive gas called radon produced by lunar rocks inside the moon. “This gas can migrate from the hot region of the moon to the cold region of the moon, and we will try to understand its dynamics in the lunar environment. For the first time, we will be able to measure it on the moon.”
He said his team had a short time to develop the device, only 3.5 years. “The schedule was very tight, but with the help of our Chinese partners, we succeeded.”
It is always good to exchange ideas with different countries, which allows us to move forward to enrich our knowledge. As Europeans, we have not been able to place our instruments on the surface of the Moon. Therefore, we rely on our international partner China is now one of the most reliable partners who can land safely on the moon, because today we have another proof,” he said.
Patrick Pinet, a scientist at the University of Toulouse, said the landing of Chang’e-6 looks simple and easy, but it requires a lot of hard work and high skills. “We are very impressed with what China has achieved again today.”
“It was an exciting time for me,” he said, noting that when he was 10 years old, he watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon on television, and now, his first experience was witnessing his landing on the far side. Moon in the Chinese boardroom. “55 years later, it’s a lot
