CHINA may have snuck a secret mini-rover onto the Chang’e-6 lunar rocket that is currently on its way to the far side of the Moon, new images reveal.
The Chang’e-6 mission was supposed to put a lander on the lunar surface to retrieve rock and dirt samples from the side of the Moon we never see.
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China had disclosed that the spacecraft was to also carry with it payloads from France, Sweden, Italy and Pakistan to the Moon.
But hawk-eyed observers spotted a small, four-wheeled object strapped to the side of the lander before take-off that was not previously disclosed, thanks to new images.
“That looks like a previously undisclosed mini rover on the side of the Chang’e-6 lander,” space reporter Andrew Jones, who closely monitors China’s space missions, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
It’s unclear what the rover is intended to do.
But the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, which provided components for the mission, suggested that the undisclosed robot has an infrared imaging spectrometer.
Future astronauts are expected to use tools like this to locate resources, such as water, to support long-term habitation on the Moon.
NASA FEARS
It might not be the first time China has sent a secret payload to the Moon.
US researchers believe China’s Chang’e-5 T-1 experimental spacecraft, which launched in 2014 and crashed into the Moon in 2022, was also carrying classified cargo.
Nasa boss Bill Nelson has been outspoken about his fears surrounding China’s activities in space – which Beijing says is purely scientific.
In his most recent comments, Nelson warned that China is hiding secret military projects in space, which could see Beijing attempt to claim the Moon as it’s own territory.
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INSIDE CHANG’E-6
China successfully launched the lander aboard a Long March 5 rocket on 3 May.
The lander is scheduled to touch down on the Moon next month.
The mission, executed entirely through a relay satellite orbiting the Moon, will see the first-ever samples from the lunar dark side collected and sent back to Earth.
It is expected to land in the Aitken Basin in the lunar south pole, which is some 2,500km (1,553 miles) wide and up to 8km (5 miles) deep.
Chang’e-6 is thought to be getting sent up to collect 2kg worth of rock and dirt samples from the surface of the moon.
The mission is intended to gather important data that will allow astronauts to return to the Moon by 2030.
Both the US and China are vying for the first-ever permanent Moon base on the lunar south pole, which will be necessary in getting humans to Mars and beyond.
Why the lunar south pole?
The lunar south pole has been a site of interest to all space-faring nations, including India, Russia, China and the US.
The south polar region is one of the Moon’s most resource-dense areas.
Last year, India made history by becoming the first country to land near the southern site.
Just days before, Russia also made an attempt at a south pole touchdown, which ended in a crash landing.
Nasa’s Artemis III mission is intended to explore a region near the lunar south pole.
The Artemis III mission forms parts of a decade-long programme that is hoped to culminate with a permanent lunar base by the end of the decade.
The south pole is, scientists believe, the most promising location for water-based ice, which will be key to future human habitation on the Moon.
Scientists also reckon there is an abundance of Helium-3 in so-called ‘cold traps’ littered across the south pole, which can help produce huge amounts of energy here on Earth.
If scientists are right, and there really is an abundance of Helium-3 on the Moon, humans could use it as fuel for the next century.
