The European Space Agency ( ESA ) has announced the detection of negative ion on the lunar aerofoil , daytime after the Chinese National Space Agency ’s Chang’e-6 lander placed their detection equipment on the far side of the Moon .
Chang’e-6 land on the Moonat 22:23 UTC on June 1 , before collecting samples from the lunar airfoil and lifting off for its 4.5 dayreturn journeyto Earth at 23:38 UTC on June 3 .
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Before it take off again with its haul of a planned ~2 kilogram ( 4.4 pounds ) taken from up to 2 meters ( 6.6 foot ) below the lunar surface , the lander deliver otherpayloadsto the far side of the Moon . This include the ESA ’s Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface ( NILS ) instrument , aimed at notice negative ions .
The pawn began collecting data 280 minutes after landing at the South Pole - Aitken Basin , before the instrument powered down due to low potential difference . The instrument came online again , and was able to collect more information in - between reboots and communicating blackouts .
“ We were understudy between shortsighted bursts of full - power and long cool - off period because the instrument was heat up , " Neil Melville , ESA ’s technological officer for the experimentation , said in astatement . " The fact that it stayed within its thermal invention terminus ad quem and handle to recover under passing spicy conditions is a testament to the calibre of the employment done by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics . "
The Earth ’s magnetised field and air largely protects us from the solar idle words ; particles flung our way of life by the Sun . But other consistency in the Solar System do not have these protective properties , and the Moon only has avery sparse atmospherecontaining helium , argon , Ne , ammonia , methane , and carbon paper dioxide .
When particles from the solar tip hit the Moon ’s surface , they kick up secondary particles . Positively - tear atom are comparatively easy to find ( if you happen to have a lunar satellite ) but negatively charged ion are short - hold up and do not make it to that height , making detection at the lunar surface necessary .
The team announced detections of the ion on Wednesday , and is working on papers on the findings .
“ These observations on the Moon will aid us better understand the surface environs and move as a pathfinder to explore negative ion population in other stuffy bodies in the Solar System , ” NILS principal research worker Martin Wieser total , " from planets to asteroids and other moons " .
