Chinese and Japanese space exploration in full swing … Korea is insatiable with firing chief of ’employee assault’

China’s National Harbor and Heaven (CNSA) unmanned lunar probe, Changeo 5, placed a five-star red flag on the lunar surface on the 4th. [사진 CNSA]

On the morning of the sixth holiday, the people of China and Japan were excited about the space news. China reported that China’s unmanned lunar probe, Changeo 5, which launched with samples from the lunar surface, successfully docked (docked) with the orbiter’s return ship in lunar orbit on the 6th. The state-run Xinhua News Agency China said this is the first time that a Chinese spacecraft has successfully docked in lunar orbit. In Japan, rumors emerged that the Hayabusa2 asteroid probe dropped a capsule containing the soil from the asteroid Ryugu in the southern Australian desert at 2:30 a.m. Kyodo News reported that if an asteroid sample is identified, it will become the world’s first material under the surface of the asteroid obtained.

The news of China’s Changeo 5 docking is a reminder of China’s space movement. Changeo 5 shows that after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, China is the only country capable of opposing the United States. According to the China National Ports and Sky Office (CNSA), Changeo 5 took off on the 3rd at 11:10 pm (local time) with approximately 2 kg of lunar rock and soil samples. In particular, the Chinese flag, 200 cm wide and 90 cm long, prepared on Earth just before the liftoff operation, was placed on the surface of the moon. This is the first time that China has placed a national flag on the surface of the moon. Until now, the only countries that left flags on the moon were the United States and the former Soviet Union.

Image of the moon landing of the Chinese unmanned lunar probe Changeo 5. [사진 CNSA]

Changeo 5 left Earth on the 24th of last month when it was loaded into Changjeong 5 from the transport rocket. Later, on day 1, a separate part of the hull landed in an area known as the ‘stormy sea’ of the moon. Changeo 5, which managed to dock with the orbiter on the 6th, will soon separate again as a return ship and fly 380,000 km to return to the Neimenggu Autonomous Region in north China in the middle of the month. In the future, China aims to build a manned lunar base and explore Mars through its own technology in the future.

Japan has a shorter history of space exploration compared to the United States, China, and Russia, but it is the best in the world for asteroid exploration. This is thanks to the intense investment of his short space career in the niche of ‘asteroid exploration’. Hayabusa 2 is Japan’s second asteroid probe. It was launched on December 3, 2014 on the H2A rocket (unit 26) jointly developed by the Aerospace Research and Development Organization (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In July of last year, it hit the asteroid Ryugu, about 340 million kilometers from Earth. Subsequently, after launching metal bullets to the surface to create a puddle, he managed to collect 0.1 g of internal material below the surface. The academy believes that the material brought in by Hayabusa 2 has not been denatured compared to 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system formed. Japan hopes that this study can be used to study the evolutionary process of the solar system and the origin of life.

Researchers from the Japan Aerospace Research and Development Organization (JAXA) are analyzing soil samples from the asteroid Ryugu, which hit the southern Australian desert on the 6th. [EPA/JAXA=연합뉴스]

The sentiment of the Korean space science community seeing the space triumph with neighboring countries China and Japan is mixed. The Ministry of Science and Technology and Information and Communication recently requested the removal of President Lim Chul-ho from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, whose term is less than two months, to the National Science and Technology Research Association (NST) . It was the result of Lim assaulting an employee at a dinner party late last year as a problem again in the state administration audit in October and a new audit was conducted. The development of Korean launch vehicles and the ongoing unmanned lunar exploration projects by Hang Woo-yeon are constantly increasing. The pooled combustion test consisting of four 75t rocket engines, which was scheduled to take place in the second half of this year, was also postponed to January next year. South Korea is not even involved in the United States Aerospace Administration (NASA) manned lunar exploration project Artemis, which is also involved in the small UAE. The national space science community notes that Director Lim’s impeachment request and the postponement of launch vehicle development are results that show the confusion of national space policy.

A university professor who served as a member of the National Space Commission said: “As space now moves beyond exploration into the era of industry, not only powers but also small countries are jumping in earnest.” . “According to the government, space programs have increased and decreased like a rubber band.” It is a shame for our reality that space officials are replaced every one or two years, but we are not putting ties of government officials. ”

Joonho Choi, Science and Future Journalist [email protected]