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BEIJING: China will share data and moon samples obtained by its Chang’e 5 probe based on international conventions, although “unfortunate” US restrictions on cooperation could prevent it from obtaining any, said the deputy director of China’s National Space. . Administration (CNSA) said.
The probe landed in the northern region of Inner Mongolia in the early hours of Thursday (December 17), bringing back the first moon rocks and soil recovered by any country since the 1970s, and making China the third largest country in the world. obtain lunar samples.
The material collected during the Chang’e 5 mission, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, will help scientists better understand the origins of the moon.
The mission also tested China’s ability to acquire samples from space remotely, prior to more complex missions in the solar system.
“In accordance with international cooperation conventions and multilateral and bilateral cooperation pacts, we will issue rules on handling lunar samples and data,” said Wu Yanhua, deputy director of CNSA.
“We will share with relevant countries and scientists abroad, and some of them can be given as domestic gifts in accordance with international practices.”
A researcher works alongside the Chang’e 5 lunar return capsule that carries samples of the moon after it landed in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday, December 17, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / China Daily).
When asked if China would share samples with the United States, limiting its NASA space agency to cooperate directly with China, Wu said the existing US restrictions were “unfortunate.”
“The Chinese government is willing to share lunar samples with institutions and scientists from various like-minded countries,” Wu said.
“Whether or not to cooperate is up to US policy,” Wu said.
China is willing to cooperate with American agencies and scientists on the basis of equal benefits and win-win cooperation, he said.
China has not disclosed how many samples it had recovered. The plan was to collect 2 kg of rocks and soil.
“We will announce this soon,” Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China’s lunar exploration program, told Reuters on the sidelines of the briefing.
“We haven’t gotten them (from the probe) yet.”
