The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has captured the first image of the Chang’e 6 spacecraft, revealing changes in the Moon’s surface after its landing. Mark Robinson, who oversees the camera system on LRO, noted that the Chang’e 6 lander sits between two craters similar in size to itself, on the edge of a 50-meter diameter eroded crater.
NASA’s LRO located the Chang’e 6 lander in the Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon shortly after its landing on June 7. The lander appears as a small cluster of light at the center of the photo. The coordinates of the landing site were calculated to be -41.6385 degrees north latitude, 206.0148 degrees east longitude, and at an altitude of -5,256 meters above the average lunar surface.
Experts released photos of the landing area in March 2022 to highlight changes before and after Chang’e 6’s landing. The lander site is in a flat region known as the lunar sea, where basaltic lava erupted billions of years ago. This region is situated at the southern edge of Apollo Basin and was chosen for its flat terrain and easy accessibility to sample collection sites.
Chang’e 6 is part of a Chinese lunar mission that aims to collect samples from the Moon’s far side. On May 3, it launched with this goal in mind and successfully collected samples which were sent back towards Earth on June 3. The spacecraft continues to orbit around
