China to Attempt to Collect Lunar Samples Next Year, Japan & NASA To Collect Samples from Moons of Mars

Saturday - July 1 2023, 13:37 UTC - 1 year ago

China will attempt to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon next year with its Chang'e 6 mission. Japan and NASA are also set to launch their respective sample-return missions to study the Martian moons and obtaining samples from the surface of Mars.

China will attempt to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon next year with its Chang’e 6 mission. It will be a complex, four-spacecraft mission will launch on a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang in May 2024, according to Wu Yanhua, chief designer of China’s Deep Space Exploration Major Project, speaking at a deep-space exploration conference on April 25 in the Chinese city of Hefei.Wu said the Chang’e 7 and 8 missions would follow in 2026 and 2028.China will launch the Queqiao-2 relay satellite and the Chang’e-6 probe in 2024 to retrieve lunar sample, it will launch Chang’e-7 around 2026 for lunar south pole resource exploration, and launch Chang’e-8 around 2028 to construct the international lunar research station’s basic model, along with Chang’e-7. Wu also said China plans to launch the Tianwen-2 probe around 2025. He said China’s international cooperation will include the International Lunar Research Station, the China Gulf Arab Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Center, and the International Deep Space Exploration Federation. The International Lunar Research Station will be completed around 2040.

Japan and NASA are also set to return samples from the moons of Mars. JAXA will launch its MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission in 2024 to study the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos up close for the first time in history. MMX also will collect surface samples from Phobos, the farthest sampling location yet. JAXA will deliver the samples to Earth in 2029. This mission, which includes a NASA instrument, technology-demonstration sampling system and NASA-supported participating scientists from U.S. institutions, will help address questions about the evolution of Mars and the formation of its two moons.

NASA is also set to launch its Perseverance rover to the surface of Mars in July 2020. The rover will carry a small drone helicopter and drill into the Martian surface to obtain samples, which it will store in tubes and deliver them to Mars’ surface for return to Earth.

The two massive spacefaring nations will launch their respective sample-return missions in the coming years, with the aim of answering questions about our Solar System and our place within it.