For the first time ever, China's Chang'e 6 robotic mission has brought back valuable samples from the moon's far side. How does it work?
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00:00We can easily see the moon either with our own eyes, or with cameras and telescopes.
00:10But all we can see is the near side of the moon.
00:13The moon's far side is out of reach of both human eyes and digital signals.
00:19It's a mysterious area, hidden from Earth.
00:23That's exactly where Chang'e 6 went.
00:25It accomplished something that no man has done before.
00:28Bring back material from the moon's far side.
00:32So how does it work?
00:33I'm Liz.
00:34Today, let's replicate this megaproject.
00:41This is WAB-E, our simple version of a lunar probe.
00:44It is a trolley with robotic arms.
00:47In the areas covered by mobile signals, I can make to move back and forth.
00:51The arms can also move up and down.
00:53I can also receive its working images on my phone.
00:59WAB-E is now working smoothly, just like the lunar probe working on the near side of the
01:03moon does.
01:05It's all because there's no obstacle between it and Earth.
01:08But what if it goes to the far side of the moon?
01:11The moon itself is like a mountain.
01:16Getting the probe work on the far side of the moon is like sending WAB-E to the other
01:20side of a mountain.
01:24Let's go.
01:25WAB-E.
01:26See?
01:27We can see live footage from the trolley on our phone.
01:33It is going farther away.
01:35The mountain might block the signal transmission between us and the trolley.
01:39Now we're losing sight of the trolley, and the screen freezes.
01:45We've lost our trolley.
01:47In fact, when Chang'e 6 worked on the far side of the moon, it has also temporarily
01:52lost signal with Earth.
01:53Now, if we have a portable Wi-Fi hotspot as a signal transfer station, bypassing the mountain's
02:00blockage, we might get our trolley back to work.
02:04Wow!
02:05Once again, we are getting live footage from our trolley.
02:10It has landed on the other side of the mountain.
02:13If it can take some sample and fly back to us, our experiment will be a success.
02:33Our trolley is flying back to us with the sample.
02:36Our experiment of replicating the far side of the moon sampling mission is complete.
02:41With the assistance of a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, we can send our trolley on a sampling mission
02:45to the far side of the mountain.
02:48How did Chang'e 6 retrieve samples from the moon's far side, 380,000 kilometers away from
02:53Earth with an entire moon between us?
02:56In reality, two relay satellites served as the portable Wi-Fi hotspot connecting Earth
03:01and Chang'e 6 lunar probe.
03:04It has two antennas, one pointing to the moon and the other to Earth.
03:08Chang'e 6's landing site is on the northeastern side of the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the oldest
03:14known impact basin in the solar system.
03:16It's about 2,500 kilometers in diameter, about the length of Kunlun Mountains.
03:22It is around 13 kilometers deep, thus deeper than the Mariana Trench.
03:27This site is the closest to the moon's mantle.
03:30So here, Chang'e 6 can collect the oldest soil on the moon.
03:36This place I'm standing on is probably the most similar place on Earth to where Chang'e
03:406 will perform its mission.
03:43Space experts have conducted countless drills and training sessions here.
03:47In front of me is a full-scale simulator of the Chang'e 6 probe.
03:52The ascent vehicle is on top and the lander is at the bottom, mirroring the assembly on
03:57the moon.
03:59The terrain here is based on images transmitted back by Chang'e 6 before sending the actual
04:05commands to Chang'e 6, the simulator performs the validation work.
04:10Essentially, each step taken on the ground is mirrored in space.
04:16Let me try out what it's like to touch moon soil.
04:24Over here.
04:25We have plenty of it here.
04:28The moon soil in the training center is made from finely ground volcanic ash.
04:33You can see the super-fine particles.
04:36They're so tiny that they can even seep into your skin.
04:41While collecting soil, Chang'e 6 employs two sampling methods, scooping and drilling.
04:48It scoops surface material with a robotic arm and collects subsurface material using
04:53a drill.
04:56This way, we get samples from different depths and locations, revealing more about the moon,
05:01the solar system and the universe's history.
05:08After the collection is complete, the return journey of Chang'e 6 with the lunar soil is
05:13like a precise relay race.
05:16The ascent vehicle must launch at the correct window, take off from the far side of the
05:20moon and dock with the orbiter, complete the passing of the baton, lunar soil.
05:26The orbiter then carries the soil back to Earth, where the returner safely escorts it
05:32home.
05:33From its departure to its return, a total of 53 days, Chang'e 6 has accomplished something
05:39that no man has done before.
05:41Beyond our sight, on behalf of everyone on this planet, Chang'e 6 has glimpsed the deeper
05:46and unknown cosmos, the boundless sea of stars.