NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has taken new images of the far side of the Moon that have revealed the location of a Chinese spacecraft.
Images acquired by LRO on June 7 reveal the location of China’s Chang’e 6 reentry probe, which was parked in the Apollo basin. This geologically rich region on the lunar surface is characterized by an abundance of basalt, the result of ancient lava flows on Earth’s natural satellite.
Since landing on June 1, Chang’e 6 has been carrying out a robotic lunar exploration mission launched by the China National Space Administration. The Chinese probe was originally launched in early May.
Nearly a week after Chang’e 6 touched down in the Apollo basin, NASA’s LRO flew over the landing site, allowing it to take images that revealed the position of the Chinese spacecraft near the rim of a 50-meter crater.
With the new images in hand, LRO imaging experts were quickly able to determine Chang’e 6’s location coordinates to be roughly 42 degrees south latitude, 206 degrees east longitude, placing the probe at an altitude of about minus 5,256 meters.
The new images obtained by LRO were released amid a flurry of recent social media posts falsely linking earlier images obtained by NASA, some from 2010, to the recent Chang’e 6 landing.
Land of ancient lunar lava flows
Billions of years ago, the area where Chang’e 6 is carrying out its mission was the site of basaltic lava flows that entered the area, where they likely subsided once they encountered a geological fault that is believed to exist in the area.
The Chang’e 6 landing site is about halfway between a pair of prominent ridges, or “wrinkle ridges,” features that are ubiquitous on the moon’s basalt plains and can sometimes reach several hundred kilometers in length. The basalt flow in this area appears to overlap with an earlier flow to the west that lacks iron oxide and titanium dioxide, as evidenced by the adjacent younger basalt formation.
A NASA spy in lunar orbit
Since June 18, 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been observing the Moon from its unique eccentric mapping orbit, providing essential images for creating a 3D map of the lunar surface.
Although LRO was originally planned for a two-year mission, its operation was extended to collect data addressing various scientific questions, including the evolution of the lunar crust and regolith.
The recent photos of China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft acquired by the LRO are not the first time that NASA’s ever-watchful eye in lunar orbit has successfully recorded operations on the lunar surface by other countries. Last September, LRO captured images of India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft at its landing site. In April of this year, LRO also managed to capture images of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), an orbiter operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
Mapping the Moon and beyond
In addition to photographing spacecraft sent to the Moon by other nations, the LRO has provided an unprecedented amount of information that has helped scientists expand our knowledge of Earth’s natural satellite. With a suite of high-resolution cameras and other powerful instruments, LRO was able to map the lunar surface in impressive detail, images that NASA has made available for viewing online.
LRO has played a significant role in several major discoveries, including the confirmation of water ice in craters on the Moon that remain in permanent shadow. Last December, LRO also beamed a laser beam from its laser altimeter towards a small device on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Vikram lander, proving that LRO can be used to locate retroreflectors on the lunar surface.
Chang’e 6 is currently conducting China’s second sample return mission. Samples collected by the lander were transferred to the ascender module and transferred to the orbiter, where they docked on June 6 for transfer back to Earth. The Chang’e 6 lander and its associated rover also conducted experiments while operating on the lunar surface.
More information about China’s Chang’e 6 mission can be found here, and more about the ongoing operations of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter can be found on the official NASA LRO mission website.
Micah Hanks is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by e-mail at the address micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.