BEIJING (AP) – Following the successful return of lunar rocks by its Changi 5 robotic probe, China is preparing for a future mission that will form the ultimate lunar base to host human explorers, a senior space program official said Thursday.
China’s next three lunar missions will be to retrieve samples from Mars and explore asteroids and Jupiter, along with Wu Yanhua, deputy chief commander of the China Lunar Exploration Program.
“The search for truth in the universe is just beginning,” Wu told a news conference hours after Chang’s capsule landed in Inner Mongolia, in which more than 400 lunar samples would be brought to Earth. Years.
Named after the Chinese goddess of the moon, the Chang program has made three landings there from its less explored side. Changi 6, scheduled for 2023, is to collect more specimens from the Moon’s South Pole, while conducting detailed survey and testing techniques to build the science base on its two successive moons.
Chang has no date of 7th and 8th, or what China says for the lunar crew mission is in the works, or for the construction of the lunar base.
Wu said China is ready to continue to contribute to the world and enhance human well-being with Chinese space solutions.
The cargo of the Chang5 Probe capsule and its samples landed at the space program’s Beijing campus after landing at 2 a.m. Thursday.
China’s National Space Administration said in a statement issued after the landing that the mission launched China’s lunar research program to collect samples, launch a vehicle from the lunar surface and transfer the samples to Earth by docking from the capsule.
“As our country’s most complex and technically groundbreaking space mission, Chang’e 5 has achieved many technological achievements … and it represents a landmark achievement.”
China became the third country after the Soviet Union and the United States in 2003 to send its own internal astronauts, and its space program proceeded with a steady, careful track, largely avoiding casualties. 1960s Soviet space race.
Wu said the latest flight features cooperation with the European Space Agency, along with Argentina, Namibia, Pakistan and other nations, with which the Chinese cooperate in monitoring and communicating with its spacecraft. “In the future, China will encourage more scientists from around the world to participate in achieving more scientific results,” Wu said.
The one exception remains the United States. Amid concerns over the secrecy of the Chinese space program and nearby military alliances, US law has banned cooperation between NASA and the CNSA unless Congress approves it. That has prevented China from participating in the International Space Station and helped Beijing launch an existing damaged experimental space station and plans to complete a permanent orbiting outpost in the next two years.
Chang landed on the moon on December 1, two of the four modules of 5, and collected about 2 kilograms (4..4 pounds) of samples from the surface by cutting and drilling 2 meters (about 6 feet) into the lunar crust. Samples were deposited in sealed containers which were taken back to the return module by the mounting vehicle.
Newly collected rocks in the U.S. And is thought to be billions of years younger than previously obtained by the former Soviet Union, giving new insights into the solar system and other bodies in the solar system. They come from a part of the moon near a place called Ocean Ramker called Ocean Procelerum or Ocean of Storms, which is believed to have been a volcano in ancient times.
U.S. Like the 382 kilograms (84 844 pounds) of lunar samples brought back by astronauts between 1969 and 1972, they are expected to be analyzed for age and composition and shared with other countries.
The age of the specimens will help fill the gap in knowledge about the history of the moon about 1 billion and 3 billion years ago, said Brad Joliff, director of the McDonnell Center for Space Sciences at Washington University in Washington, DC. Lewis, wrote in an email. They could also give signals about the availability of economically useful resources such as concentrated hydrogen and oxygen on the moon, Jolie said.
“These samples will be a treasure!” Jolie wrote. “My hat is off to pull a very difficult mission to our Chinese allies; The science flowing from the analysis of the returned samples will be a legacy that will last for many, many years to come, and hopefully involve the international community of scientists. “
U.S. Whether researchers will have access to the samples depends on American policy, Wu said.
“We sincerely seek friendly cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and peaceful use, regardless of whether they are American government departments, business operations, scientists or engineers,” Wu said.
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