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- On the same day that China collected lunar rocks on a groundbreaking space mission, a critical American telescope collapsed at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
- Built in 1963, the observatory was a beacon for US astronomical research, lasted through natural disasters, and inspired generations of Puerto Rican researchers.
- China’s successful achievement with the Chang’e-5 probe is the first time since the 1970s that lunar samples have been collected, and if the spacecraft returns to Earth safely in mid-December, it will mark a major step forward. in space exploration.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
On Tuesday, the United States and China experienced very different events in the world of space exploration and observation.
The Arecibo Observatory, a colossal telescope located in Puerto Rico, collapsed after severe deterioration since August. The Arecibo Observatory had been functioning as a center for astronomical observations for 57 years.
Meanwhile, far from Earth’s atmosphere, the unmanned Chang’e-5 probe, a Chinese spacecraft, landed on the moon to bring lunar materials back to Earth for the first time in nearly 50 years, the Chinese government announced.
China’s moon landing and lunar rock recovery mark the first time a country has acquired moon sample materials since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976, according to NASA.
American astronauts from NASA’s Apollo program last recovered more than 800 pounds of lunar samples between 1969 and 1972.
The two separate events on the same day show the stark contrast between China’s recent investment in space exploration and research and America’s space efforts, which often have shifting budgets and priorities.
As Business Insider previously reported, there are countless obstacles to getting the US back to the moon, including the cost of space exploration and changing priorities with each new presidential administration.
China’s lunar program began about a decade ago with an investment of $ 180 million and orbiter launches in 2007 and 2008. According to a 2019 Fortune report, while the US continues to spend more on space exploration, spending of China has risen 349% in 15 years. .
An unmanned Chinese spacecraft landed on the Moon on December 1, state media reported, the latest milestone in a mission to collect samples from the lunar surface.
China National Space Administration
The Chang’e-5 spacecraft that landed will eventually dock with the rest of the spacecraft remaining in orbit, and from there the samples will return to Earth on the orbiter. If all the remaining steps go smoothly, the samples will land in mid-December in the Inner Mongolia region.
In Puerto Rico, the observatory’s suspended telescope fell about 450 feet and crashed into the observatory’s reflector plate Tuesday morning, according to the US National Science Foundation.
Built in the 1960s, the observatory was initially funded by the United States Department of Defense and is now overseen by the National Science Foundation and the University of Central Florida. The telescope made key scientific discoveries, such as tracking asteroids heading toward Earth, and helped with research that led to a Nobel Prize. It was also one of the iconic backgrounds for the James Bond movie, “Goldeneye.”
Puerto Rican meteorologist Ada Monzón wept on the air Tuesday announcing the fall of the telescope. November marked a tragic end not only for the observatory’s structure, but also for the observatory’s potential uses in the future, as the NSF announced plans to dismantle the observatory, prior to the collapse.
