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China launches Chang'e-5 to collect, return moon samples on November 24, 2020

Screen capture of lunar sample from documentary,
From StdNormDist via 9ifly.spacety.com

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今天 13:58 来自 HUAWEI P30 Pro 已编辑​
【嫦娥五号着陆点命名为天船基地】
国际天文学联合会(IAU)行星系统命名工作组批准了嫦娥五号着陆点及其附近几个月球地理实体命名:嫦娥五号着陆点命名为天船基地(Statio Tianchuan);着陆点附近5个环形坑命名为裴秀、沈括、刘徽、宋应星、徐光启;位于着陆点南北的2座山脉命名为衡(恒)山(Mons Heng)和华山(Mons Hua)。(来源:hanipersian)​

PhilLeafSpace
Today at 13:58 from HUAWEI P30 Pro Edited

[The landing site of Chang'e 5 was named Statio Tianchuan]

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Planetary System Nomenclature Working Group approved the naming of the Chang'e 5 landing site and its nearby geographic entities: the Chang'e 5 landing site was named Statio Tianchuan; The five ring pits near the landing site are named Pei Xiu, Shen Kuo, Liu Hui, Song Yingxing, and Xu Guangqi; the two mountains located in the north and south of the landing site are named Mons Heng and Mons Hua. (Source: hanipersian)

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China kicks off lunar sample study programs
Source: Xinhua | 2021-07-12 18:43:39 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday delivered about 17 grams of lunar samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 probe to 13 institutions, which had applied for research programs to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the delivery, Liu Jizhong, director of the center, said that this is the first batch of lunar samples delivered to research institutions. More samples will be released and delivered in the future as planned.

Hoping that more and more research institutions will take part in the lunar sample study in the future, Liu said China is willing to promote international cooperation and invite foreign scientists for joint research on lunar samples.

He noted that China's Chang'e-6 probe will also bring back lunar samples and the sampling on Mars and asteroid has been included in the long-term plan.

Pei Zhaoyu, vice director of the center and director of Lunar Sample Management Office, informed the press that the center had received 85 applications from 37 applicants working with 23 research institutions including China's Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

After evaluation, 31 applications from 13 research institutions have been granted approval to study the first batch of lunar samples, Pei said, adding that the next round of application evaluation has been scheduled for September this year.

He mentioned that the center has not received any formal application from foreign research institutions. The CNSA encourages joint international study of lunar samples, in which foreign scientists can participate, for instance, by joining a Chinese research team.

Pei added that the members of the expert committee set up to review and evaluate lunar sample study applications are so far all from China. The committee would open its positions to foreign experts in the future according to the need for sample study and international cooperation.

Zhu Rixiang, president of the expert committee and also a member of the CAS, told the press that the approved study applications cover fields such as lunar surface process, volcanic activity age, lunar evolution process, and mineral and volatile composition.

The Chang'e-5 samples are different from those obtained by the United States and the Soviet Union in the past. The study of Chang'e-5 samples will offer new insights into the evolution of the moon and planets, and the habitability of planets, he added.

The lunar samples were delivered to institutions including those from the CAS, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), and Sun Yat-sen University.

The Chang'e-5 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a returner, was launched on Nov. 24, 2020. The return capsule landed in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Dec. 17, retrieving about 1,731 grams of moon samples.
 
Lunar Water Evidence Found On-Site By China's Chang'e 5 Lander: A Historic First

Arianne G.

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Water signals were observed in reflectance spectral data from the lunar surface acquired by the Chang'e-5 lander, a joint research team led by Lin Yangting and Lin Honglei from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has announced, providing the first evidence of in-situ detection of water on the Moon.

The lunar soil at the landing site contains fewer than 120 parts-per-million (ppm), or 120 grams water per tons, according to a study published on Saturday in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, and a light vesicular rock comprises 180 ppm - significantly drier than rocks on Earth.

Remote observation had proven the presence of water, but the lander has now discovered evidence of water in rocks and soil.

The Chang'e-5 spacecraft returned 1,731 g of samples after landing on one of the Moon's youngest mare basalts in a mid-high latitude. However, before sampling and delivering the lunar soil to Earth, the lander's lunar mineralogical spectrometer (LMS) measured the spectral reflectance of the regolith and a rock, offering a unique opportunity to identify lunar surface water.

Scientists believe the soil acquired water via solar wind, but the rock's higher water content came from an unknown source beneath the Moon's surface - the rock could have been expelled from deeper within the moon during a previous volcanic eruption.

The scientists also stated that simulating true lunar surface conditions on Earth is difficult, emphasizing the need for in-situ measurements.

The findings are consistent with a preliminary analysis of the returning Chang'e 5 samples, the report indicated.

Previous evidence supporting the presence of water on the Moon has been discovered, but all of them have been based on lunar samples returned to Earth or data obtained by instruments from afar.

Water molecules were discovered trapped inside glassy, volcanic stones during Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, based on an analysis of lunar rock samples collected during the Apollo missions in 2008.

In 2018, scientists used data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe to demonstrate the presence of water ice on the Moon's surface.

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) flew a modified Boeing 747 outfitted with a powerful telescope in 2020, confirming for the first time that water exists on the Moon's sunlit surface.

This newest confirmation of water on the Moon's surface by the Chang'e 5 lander was made on-site rather than from lunar orbit or Earth, marking a historic first.

The discoveries add to the mystery surrounding China's Chang'e-6 and Chang'e-7 missions. According to the report, investigations into lunar water reserves are becoming more prominent as the construction of crewed lunar stations is planned over the next few decades.

 
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