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China’s Chang’e-5 successfully landed at its designated landing zone at Siwangzi Banner in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region around 2 a.m. Thursday, carrying around 2 kg of lunar samples . The photos show workers checking the status of the craft. (Photo: Our Space / Wang Jiangbo)
On the frigid prairie of the Siziwang Banner in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a Chinese national flag has been placed right next to the reentry capsule of the Chang’e-5 lunar probe, whose l he epic landing before dawn on Thursday provided the perfect climax for China. latest lunar missions – an epic moon sample return mission.
Such a moment was reminiscent of China’s very first fabric national flag which was flown to the moon by the Chang’e-5 lander on December 3, another mission highlight.
“These moments would be treasured for years to come and would always spark curiosity to seek out more space wonders,” said one astronomer.
The safe landing of the long-awaited Chang’e-5 marked the perfect end to its 23-day trip to the moon, bringing with it a precious package containing not only lunar samples, but also the hopes and expectations for to advance the understanding of humanity. of the heavenly neighbor of the Earth.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent an immediate congratulatory message on Thursday morning after the capsule returned, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended greetings to all members who participated in the Chang’e-5 mission in his congratulatory message.
Infographic of the lunar probe mission in China: Deng Zijun / GT
China is the third country to have successfully introduced lunar samples to Earth, after the United States and the Soviet Union, ushering in a new stage for China’s aerospace development.
As one of the most complex and difficult tasks in the country’s aerospace history, Chang’e-5 achieved several firsts in Chinese aerospace history, including the very first take off from the lunar surface and the first rendezvous and dock in lunar orbit. .
Each step of the mission was carefully planned and met each other’s high expectations, achieving multiple technological advances.
“The success of the mission is a new step in the development of the Chinese space industry, proving that China has mastery of shuttle technology between the Earth and the Moon,” Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the Space Administration, said Thursday. Chinese special press conference at the Information Office of the State Council in Beijing.
The prefect’s completion of the three stages of “orbit, land and return” has laid a solid foundation for China’s future lunar and planetary exploration, which is best practice with technological autonomy, and proves our ability. to organize a major program amid the COVID -19 outbreak, ”Wu said.
Photo taken early Thursday morning shows Beijing Aerospace Control Center Photo: Our Space
High-tech curtain call
Thursday around 1am, the separation of the turner and the orbiter took place 5,000 kilometers from Earth. About half an hour later, the re-entry capsule, carrying about 2 kilograms of lunar samples, entered Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 11.2 km per second, the second cosmic speed.
To reduce speed, the capsule then bounced off the atmosphere in a manner mimicking a “leaping stone,” according to a statement sent to the Global Times by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday.
The parachute opened when the craft was about 10 kilometers above the ground.
The re-entry capsule was transferred to Beijing on Thursday afternoon in a Y-9 helicopter. And the CNSA will return the machine to ground applications, because the mission has entered a phase of “science”, revealed Thursday the deputy director of the CNSA.
The moon samples will mainly be used for scientific research, and part of them will be on display at the Chinese National Museum and national astronomical observatories, according to the CNSA.
China will soon release a lunar sample data management code to guide bilateral and multilateral research collaboration with the international community, and some of the samples will also be donated to other countries, in line with US and Soviet tradition, a added the space agency.
The UN has previously requested to share some of the samples, Wu said.
Besides Beijing, the main sample storage site, Shaoshan, in central China’s Hunan Province – the hometown of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong – will also be used to preserve moon rocks and soil.
CNSA said such a move is meant to honor the great leader who once expressed a great passion for space. “We can hug the moon in the ninth heaven.”
China’s Chang’e-5 successfully landed at its designated landing zone at Siwangzi Banner in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region around 2 a.m. Thursday, carrying around 2 kg of lunar samples . The photos show workers checking the status of the craft. (Photo: Our Space / Wang Jiangbo)
Pride of china
The landing of the craft was broadcast live by the national television channel China Central Television (CCTV) on social networks, attracting nearly 2 million views, reflecting the great enthusiasm for the round trip. of 23 days of Chang’e-5.
Shortly after Chang’e-5 launched on November 24, curious netizens unearthed an article published in 2005 by the People’s Daily, which made plans for the entire Chang’e series – put into orbit, landing and sample recovery – while specifying that missions were to be completed in 2020.
“It’s hard to believe that our distant and unrealistic fantasies – once seemingly the realm of science fiction – have actually come true,” one Weibo user said. “We now have all the confidence in the world for the future of China’s space industry,” wrote another.
CNSA said on Thursday that the agency and scientists plan to launch a Chang’e-6 sample return mission during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), whose landing site could be the South Pole. lunar or the other side of Earth’s natural satellite.
Space missions such as Chang’e-6, 7, 8, asteroid exploration, sampling return to Mars and Jupiter exploration will be implemented as planned, Wu Yanhua told the conference from Thursday.
Staff are working at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center Thursday morning. Photo: Our space
International spotlight
As part of the Chang’e-5 mission, China provided coordination and cooperation with the world including the European Space Agency, Argentina, Namibia and Pakistan in the field of telemetry, monitoring and command (TT&C).
Many national leaders, heads of space agencies and international organizations have expressed their congratulations and praise, and look forward to continued cooperation with China, the CNSA official said.
“China is ready to work with like-minded friends around the world and share lunar samples with them for scientific research,” Wu told the media when commenting on Reuters’ issue on Thursday, which hinted at the possibility of ‘a China-NASA joint force on the study of moon samples.
“Unfortunately, US laws have made it very difficult to work with NASA,” Wu said. He noted that it depends on the attitude of the US government.
NASA currently cannot work directly with the Chinese space agency or Chinese companies. This provision was inserted in 2011 into NASA funding law by Frank Wolf, then Republican Congressman from Virginia, to punish China for its human rights record and to protect US aerospace technology.
Photo: Our space / Wang Jiangbo
International space observers contacted by the Global Times said they might think that many members of NASA were keen to work with China, but complicated political factors would arise.
At a conference Tuesday at the Greater Houston Partnership, an economic development organization, Jim Bridenstine, the administrator of NASA, spoke of the prospect of relaxing the ban on NASA-China cooperation.
“It’s on top of my salary bill,” Bridenstine said. “But I certainly believe NASA is a diplomatic tool. I think that asset is a tool that can be used, for example, as a sweetener for a trade deal. I think it can be used for all kinds of purposes. for international diplomacy. “
However, observers are reading positive signs and have said that since Democrats control the House, they could make a change if they wanted.
Some have said that they would love to see the best in the game join forces for the sake of humanity.
“However, we must remain rational and sober about the divide between China and the United States in terms of aerospace development,” Song Zhongping, aerospace expert and TV commentator at the Global Times, said Thursday. “We have to admit that the United States is still leading the way in global space exploration and that cooperation with the United States will bring a lot of benefits to both countries.”
China welcomes cooperation, but only on the assumption that the United States stops politicizing the field, abandons its Cold War mentality and is ready to engage in an equal dialogue, a noted Song.
“The call from senior NASA officials and other US space analysts to share data and cooperate with China on lunar explorations also showed the advancement of Chinese space technologies and innovations in a way that Americans never expected, ”he added.
“If there’s one thing the men and women who fly in space will tell you, it’s that once you get there, Earth politics means nothing at all,” TIME said in a statement. article.
Newspaper title: Mission accomplished
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