The inset at top right of the previous map shows white boxes where hyperspectral observations were taken. Boxes with more than one observation number were repeat observations, and they allowed some study of changes in water concentration (VERY low) over time.
#moon #change6

Time to put everything together for Chang'e 6. Here is a map of the immediate area of the lander. I need to confirm the location of the drill. The Lunar Mineralogy Spectrometer (LMS) did multispectral mapping of the sampling area to help find a good place to scoop. Some parts were looked at in more bands (hyperspectral), observing traces of water (top right inset). The rover route is mapped but I am still waiting for a formal paper on it for details.
#moon #change6

The 8 scoops make a shape resembling Zhong, the Chinese character which is the first part of the country's name (Zhōngguó). C3 came between scoops 6 and 7 but I only discovered it after the image was prepared, in a paper about determining the surface strength from the imprint depth.
#moon #change6

This video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svW5JNPAD6c

shows the Chang'e 6 sampling process. First a drill, which took a c. 100 cm core. It should have gone to 200 cm but hit a rock. Then a scoop which collected 8 scoops of regolith. Three times the scoop contacted the surface before digging (C1, C2, C3), to calibrate the position of the scoop. Later the data from the contacts was used to measure surface strength. The process was fully automated.
#moon #change6

Less well known is this second image which appeared on a social media site which I can't get back to. But I save everything... This was taken earlier, closer to the lander. The hills in the background of both images of the lander are parts of Mons Song, south of the lander in a map I posted earlier.
#moon #change6

That Chang'e 6 panorama was not the only image from the mission. The spacecraft had multiple cameras to monitor activities throughout surface and orbital operations, but the one which got most attention was on a tiny rover:

https://www.planetary.org/space-images/change-6-surprise-rover

It was dropped off the side of the lander and could operate whichever way up it landed. More details:

https://www.leonarddavid.com/up-close-look-at-chinas-change-6-mini-rover/

That link shows a picture taken by the rover. Quite impressive!

In this view I have projected the panorama into a semicircle with north at the top (the process exaggerates horizon relief). I also massaged the scene a little bit to make visible the 50 m subdued crater whose rim the spacecraft landed on. Otherwise it is very difficult to discern.
#moon #change6

We landed! Let's take a look around the Chang'e 6 landing site. The sample return landers only took half a panorama, alas. Here:

https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202406/04/content_WS665ec2d7c6d0868f4e8e7d12.html

are some images including their panorama (second image). My version has a straightened horizon (it's a cylindrical projection). Below is a closeup of hills on the horizon, the rim of Chaffee crater. I will eventually fill the bit at the top where the flag is to maximize the surface view.
#moon #change6

So this is a farside mare (basalt lava flow) and the regolith developed on that lava flow contains fragments thrown onto it from distant craters. The young crater Chaffee S (shown yesterday) is a likely source of some of those fragments. They would include samples of the South Pole-Aitken Basin floor, a prize long desired by lunar scientists.
#moon #change6

Here I zoom in on the Chang'e 6 landing site. I have done this 4 frame sequence for every landing and crash site which we can identify in LRO images. The second image shows the specific target box in the larger landing area. They landed almost in the middle of it. It looks like a typical mare surface but it's anything but. This was only the second landing on the far side of the Moon and the first sample return.

Many craters are named here. China has been quite active in getting names approved around its landing sites. You can also see craters commemorating several US astronauts (see the ALT text in the previous post) including the Columbia crew and 2 of the Apollo 1 crew. The Challenger crew are commemorated by craters north of here, and Soviet astronauts have their own craters near Tsiolkovskiy and Mare Moscoviense.
#moon #change6

I had a thread on lunar landing sites a year or so ago, which is included in the 'planetary mapping' PDF linked in the pinned post thanks to @birchbirch. This current thread is an update, so here I am continuing where that thread finished, just leading up to Chang'e 6. Here are 2 maps for context. They show the defined landing area and a backup area further west. A specific landing box was defined within the large landing area later.