All content in this article is based on official and reliable sources, and the specific information is detailed at the end of the article
Preface
On April 12, it was reported that on the 26th of this month, the Nanwangshan Campus of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) will review applications from countries around the world for borrowing lunar soil samples.
But I didn't expect that 5 of the 10 applicants were coming to the United States.
Thinking that the United States proposed the "Volvo Clause" in order to stop the development of China's aviation industry, and now it is applying to China for lunar soil research, which is simply a slap in the face.
So will China give to the request of the United States?
The United States applies for lunar soil
According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on the 11th, 10 scientists from the United States, Europe and Asia will participate in the Chinese lunar review meeting.
In this meeting, the 10 scientists from various countries will have 15 minutes to present their research plans after obtaining lunar soil.
Afterwards, the judges present will also ask questions.
After the review, there is a chance to obtain lunar soil and take it back for research.
But out of the 10 applicants, five were from the United States.
One of them is from NASA, and the other four are all American universities.
It accounts for 5 out of 10 lists, which shows that the United States really wants to get this lunar soil for research.
However, seeing that the United States is so active, one cannot help but ask: Isn't the United States' space technology quite advanced today? Logically speaking, the United States should have acquired lunar soil earlier than China.
Indeed, China is not the first country to recover lunar soil.
As early as the 6th and 70s of the last century, the United States and the Soviet Union had long achieved lunar soil sampling.
The Soviet Union obtained it by means of drone sampling, and a total of more than 300 grams of lunar soil were taken through three attempts.
The American sampling method was brought back by astronauts, and the artificial force must be greater than that of drones, so the United States also collected more than 380 kilograms of lunar soil.
In this way, it seems that the United States also has lunar soil, but why is he so active in fighting for lunar soil collected by China?
According to Russian expert Kotov, the lunar soil brought back by China this time is very different from the previous two.
Moreover, the soil retrieved by China is relatively new compared to the previous two, which will be of great significance for the study of the origin of the moon.
So how did China bring back this significant lunar soil?
On December 1, 2020, Chang'e-5, launched by the mainland, finally successfully landed on the pre-selected front side of the moon a week after its launch after continuously revising its flight trajectory.
It landed near the Rumke Mountains in the northern part of the Stormy Ocean, the largest lunar sea on the Moon.
You must know that this landing site was not chosen randomly, but was determined after a large number of verifications by mainland scientists.
According to the continuous analysis of scientists, the geology of the landing area may have relatively new basalt compared with the geology collected before the United States and the former Soviet Union.
This means that the samples collected will be very different from theirs, which will lead to a deeper understanding of the study of the Moon.
When Chang'e-5 returned to land again, the scientists' ideas were also verified, and the lunar soil collected by the mainland this time was indeed very different from the previous two countries.
And this is the reason why the United States is so active in applying for it after it has lunar soil.
But this move by the United States is clearly a violation of the Volvo clause they proposed in 2011.
Volvo Terms
The second of the 10 national speakers on the list of delegates from the review council is Ryan Ziegler, a geochemist at the top of NASA.
This is really surprising, after all, the "Volvo Clause" of that year is still vivid in the minds of many Chinese people.
In 2011, a Chinese compatriot working for NASA was arrested while transiting back to China on the grounds that he was carrying large amounts of information technology or that he had no control over.
But the fact is that they did not find any relevant information on the computer of this Chinese compatriot.
I didn't expect the United States to make up a random reason to fool it.
In the end, the United States even labeled the Chinese compatriots as unwarranted, claiming that this was a spy time.
Immediately after that, Volvo proposed the "Volvo Clause" to prohibit the exchange of aviation technology between China and the United States.
But is it really because of this incident that the United States came up with the idea of proposing this clause?
In fact, no, this is just an excuse for the United States to cover itself.
You must know that the United States has been constantly upgrading its control over the mainland in the field of satellite technology and national defense.
Unexpectedly, the ultimate goal of the United States is to restrict Sino-US space cooperation in the form of laws and regulations.
The introduction of this clause has not only seriously affected the exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and American scientists in the space industry, but has even suffered misfortune even for the personnel and students working in the United States.
It can be said that this behavior of the United States is really very absurd.
Although the United States has severed exchanges between Chinese and American space researchers, China's space industry has not suffered a setback, but has become more and more courageous.
Thanks to the mainland's unremitting efforts, the development of the aerospace industry is getting better and better.
The mainland's Shenzhou has been flying in space for longer and longer, from more than 20 hours at the beginning to staying for more than half a year now.
And the launches are becoming more and more frequent, and now a Shenzhou has basically been lifted off in half a year.
Of course, this is only a small aspect, and there are many aviation scientific research achievements that have naturally achieved good results.
For example, this time, Chang'e-5 achieved the mainland's first drone lunar surface sampling.
Moreover, the samples retrieved are still different from those retrieved by other countries before, and China's aerospace industry is really developing rapidly with the naked eye.
But to get back to the point, although the United States has actively applied to China for this batch of lunar soil of special significance, the "Volvo Clause" of the United States has become their biggest obstacle.
You must know that the clause states that any exchanges and cooperation between the two countries are prohibited in the space industry, so if the mainland approves the application of the United States, wouldn't that be a violation of their laws and regulations?
After all, for China, the space industry is a common research topic for all mankind, and as long as it is helpful to the space research cause, China will definitely share the lunar soil samples.
But if it violates U.S. laws and regulations, then China may have to think twice.
In this way, if American scientists really want to get this lunar soil, the best way is to apply for an exception in the US Congress.
Only when the U.S. Congress approves the application will China be able to share the samples with U.S. scientists without any scruples.
epilogue
The "Volvo Clause" was designed by the United States to hinder China's space industry, but in the end it restricted its own research and development.
I don't know if China will approve the US application at that time? What problems will it face if it does? Let's wait for the follow-up.
If the application is approved, how much will it have to be given? You must know that when the United States had more than 380 kilograms of lunar soil, it only gave China 1 gram of soil.
So do you think China should give it or not?
References:
Observer.com - China will review applications for international loan of lunar samples, and 5 of the 10 applicants are from the United States—2024.04.12
hatps://baijiyahao.baidu.com/s?id=1796093842818748496&dfr=spider&for=pc
China Youth Network - Russian Expert: The lunar soil brought back to Earth by China is different from before, which is helpful for exploring the origin of the moon-2021.11.09
Hatps://baijiyahaao.baidu.com/s?id=1715959435749342543&dfr=spider&for=pc