Increase knowledge | How to store, distribute and study the "soil" dug back from the moon by Chang'e 5?
At 1:59 on December 17, the Chang'e-5 returner carried 2 kilograms of lunar samples and landed safely in the planned area of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, marking the successful completion of my country's first extraterrestrial body sampling and return mission.
For scientists of ground application systems, scientific research on lunar samples has just begun.
How will these precious lunar samples be stored, managed, distributed and researched, and how will my country develop international cooperation?
In the 1970s, the United States once gave my country 1 gram of lunar samples as a "national gift". Will my country also share lunar samples with NASA?
On December 17, Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the National Space Administration, said that the Chinese government is willing to share lunar samples and related exploration data with like-minded institutions and scientists from various countries for scientific analysis.
"We are willing to carry out sincere and friendly cooperation with the United States, whether it is government agencies, enterprises or institutions, scientists, and engineers, based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, peaceful use, and win-win cooperation."
Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, deputy chief designer of the third phase of the lunar exploration project, and spokesperson for the Chang'e 5 mission, also said, "We have not proposed country restrictions and encourage scientists to conduct sample research cooperation. "
1 gram of lunar soil as a "national gift"
After a lapse of 44 years, mankind once again brought back to the lunar soil from the moon.
From July 1969 to December 1972, the US Apollo 11 to Apollo 17 manned spacecraft carried out 7 manned missions to the moon. Except for Apollo 13 which returned midway due to a failure, the remaining 6 spacecrafts were completed. After landing on the moon, 12 astronauts were successfully sent to the moon, and the total lunar soil and lunar rock samples brought back were about 381.7 kg.
On September 12, 1970, the Soviet Union launched the world's first unmanned lunar sample return probe "Lunar 16" and retrieved a small sample of 101 grams from the lunar fertility sea.
Afterwards, the Lunar 20 launched in 1972 and the Lunar 24 launched in 1976 have retrieved 55 grams and 170 grams of lunar samples from the moon, respectively.
The human lunar landing sampling plan has also been silent since, humans have not "digged" back to the earth from the moon for 44 years.
This time China’s 2 kg samples are especially precious.
At 4:30 a.m. on November 24, the Long March 5 carrier rocket sent the Chang'e 5 lunar probe into space from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China.
On the same day, NASA said on social media, “With the launch of Chang’e-5, China has begun to work hard to obtain lunar samples with the United States and the former Soviet Union. We hope that China can share its data with the global scientific community to strengthen our understanding of the moon. Understanding, just like what we did in the Apollo project and what the Artemis project would do."
In the 1970s, the United States gave my country a 1 gram sample of the moon.
On the eve of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1978, Brzezinski, the then-U.S. President Carter's security affairs adviser, gave China 1 gram of lunar soil as a "national gift" when he visited China.
Our country divides this lunar soil into two, of which 0.5 g is used for experiments, and 0.5 g is stored in the Beijing Planetarium.
Through the study of this half-gram sample, Chinese scientists have published many scientific research articles.
China is willing to share with like-minded institutions and scientists from other countries
Now, how will the approximately 2 kilograms of lunar samples that my country retrieved from the moon be stored, managed, distributed and researched?
How will my country carry out international cooperation? Will it also be shared with NASA?
Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the National Space Administration, said that samples collected from the moon are used for three purposes. The main purpose is to conduct scientific research. In addition, some samples will also be collected in the National Museum and displayed to the public.
In addition, in accordance with international cooperation conventions and multilateral and bilateral cooperation agreements, my country will issue lunar samples and data management methods to share with scientists in relevant countries and the world.
Of course, some samples will be given in accordance with international practice or as a national gift.
As for whether the lunar samples will be shared with NASA, Wu Yanhua said that the Chinese government is willing to share lunar samples and related exploration data with like-minded institutions and scientists from various countries for scientific analysis.
"We are willing to carry out sincere and friendly cooperation with the United States, whether it is government agencies, enterprises or institutions, scientists, and engineers, based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, peaceful use, and win-win cooperation."
"Unfortunately, in 2011, the U.S. Congress passed the'Wolf Clause', restricting the cooperation between official agencies such as NASA and the Science Committee of the State Council and China's aerospace." Wu Yanhua said, whether cooperation depends on the policies of the U.S. government. .
Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, deputy chief designer of the third phase of the lunar exploration project, and spokesperson for the Chang'e-5 mission, said that from the perspective of scientific research, a sample management method will be formulated and how to deal with samples. Management, distribution and use will make specific regulations.
"Sample is an important basic material for scientific research. On the one hand, we will organize domestic scientists to conduct research on samples. At the same time, the management measures also propose to actively carry out international cooperation in sample research. We also welcome foreign scientists to conduct sample research." Pei Zhaoyu said, The sample management method mentions that a committee of scientists should be established to solicit plans and suggestions for sample research from the international community. The committee of scientists will evaluate these suggestions and find out which suggestions are of scientific value, the use of samples is reasonable, and the management of samples is orderly and reliable.
Pei Zhaoyu said that my country will decide which samples to provide and which research to conduct in this way.
"We did not propose country-specific restrictions and encourage scientists to collaborate on sample research."
Unblock, divide samples, test, file
Chang'e 5 is my country's first mission to return to the lunar surface by automatic sampling. The samples brought back from the moon are very precious.
Li Chunlai, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy chief designer of the third phase of the lunar exploration project, said that most of the samples will be used for scientific research and long-term systematic research in the laboratory, including their structure, physical properties, chemical composition, isotopic composition, In terms of mineral characteristics and geological evolution, we hope to deepen our understanding of the origin and evolution of the moon.
The Lunar Sample Laboratory at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences undertakes an important mission, which is the storage, management and research of lunar samples.
What should I do after I get the "space express" of the moon sample?
Pei Zhaoyu said that it must be unsealed first. The sample container is sealed in a vacuum state. After entering the earth, it must be operated in the environment of the earth, which is different from ordinary cans.
After unsealing, sample the samples for basic characteristics and physical and chemical characteristics tests.
Then register samples and create files for each sample.
Since the moon is almost in a vacuum and there is a large pressure difference between it and the earth, safe unblocking has become the first problem facing the scientific research team.
"Through continuous technology and verification, we finally designed a set of plans to independently unpack the cans under vacuum conditions. After the unsealing is complete, we transfer the samples to a nitrogen environment for storage and processing." Lunar Exploration Project Said Zhang Guangliang, the chief designer of the third-phase ground application system.
The lunar soil samples are in powder form and are easily contaminated by earth materials. Therefore, the scientific research team designed a clean room condition to minimize the pollution of earth particles.
According to different sampling methods and sample usage, the samples collected this time will be divided into four categories: temporary storage of drilled samples, temporary storage of table samples, permanent storage of drilled samples, and permanent storage of table samples.
Zhou Qin, the chief designer of the ground application system of the third phase of the lunar exploration project, said that first of all, consider using some non-destructive analysis methods as much as possible, such as observation of optical characteristics under a microscope, spectral measurement in the laboratory, etc., to minimize the impact of the earth environment on lunar samples .
"We will also do some detrimental chemical composition analysis. Of course, we must conduct a comprehensive and comprehensive consideration of these analyses, and try to obtain more useful information with the smallest amount of sample."
The Paper Journalist Zhang Jing