Weekly - Chang’e-6 returns with moon samples and more
🟡 Weekly Space News - Quick and Easy.
This week’s post ranks yellow 🟡 on the Engagement Palette.
Chang’e-6 returns with moon samples
Last week, China’s Chang’e-6 returned to Earth after a 53-day lunar sample return mission. This is a historic achievement because it is the first mission to successfully retrieve samples from the moon’s far side (the side facing away from Earth). The samples include soil samples, rocks retrieved from drilling into the ground and more. Scientists believe the nearly unexplored region of the moon, could contain water, which is essential for a future moon base. The soil samples retrieved could help us learn more about this region.
ISRO’s Pushpak RLV passes final landing test
ISRO is developing a Reusable Launch Vehicle named Pushpak. Unlike the rockets by SpaceX that land back vertically on the ground, Pushpak makes a horizontal landing like a plane on a runway. This is why it is equipped with wings. Recently, ISRO has been testing its horizontal landing capabilities. Last week, was the 3rd and final test and Pushpak passed with flying colours. It was dropped from a high altitude by a helicopter while mimicking the conditions of re-entry from space from an unintended angle. Despite this and the severe wind conditions, the vehicle managed to make the necessary corrections and manoeuvres needed to land back safely on the runway. Now that the vehicle has completed landing tests, ISRO will now begin working on its orbital capabilities. To know more about Reusable Launch Vehicles and why they are needed click here.
ISS narrowly escapes debris threat
Last week, the ISS was threatened by debris from a satellite break-up near its location. The space station didn’t have enough time to manoeuvre around it, and the astronauts were instructed to take shelter in the emergency vehicles in case the ISS got damaged. Thankfully, no collision occurred and the debris passed by safely. Such an event might be rare, but not unheard of. It has happened before and will happen again if there is even a 1 in 10,000 possibility of collision.
