The China National Space Administration reported on Wednesday morning that China’s Chang’e 6 robotic probe successfully entered lunar orbit and commenced its orbit around the Moon.
According to China Daily, the administration stated that, under the precise guidance of spacecraft control experts at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre, the Chang’e 6 probe conducted a braking manoeuvre as it approached the lunar surface, resulting in its successful entry into lunar orbit at 10:12 am.
Prior to this critical manoeuvre, the 8.35-metric-ton Chang’e 6 had travelled for nearly 113 hours along an Earth-Moon transfer trajectory.
A crucial step in lunar missions, the braking manoeuvre is executed to decrease the spacecraft’s velocity, ensuring it can be captured by the Moon’s gravitational pull rather than unintentionally passing by the celestial body.
Launched on Friday afternoon from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan province by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Chang’e 6 spacecraft aims to achieve the world’s first mission to retrieve samples from the lunar far side and bring them back to Earth.
The Chang’e 6 spacecraft, developed and constructed by the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing, comprises four components: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a re-entry capsule.
