Preface
Who would have thought that the United States, as a big country, would actually want to borrow lunar soil from the mainland, and also take away research!
But isn't this a "slap in the face"?
In 2020, the Long March 5 launch vehicle took Chang'e-5 to the moon, and in the end, Chang'e-5, which had high hopes, brought back 1,731 grams of lunar soil.
Lunar samples, lunar soil
The Chinese are not a people who do not know how to share, and although these lunar soils are very valuable, we are still willing to share them with all mankind.
In October 2023, Hu Hao, chief designer of Chang'e-5, announced that the scientific research samples of Chang'e-5 will soon be open for international applications.
When the news came out, many countries in the world came to apply, but what is surprising is that the current list shows that the number of 10 applicants in the United States actually accounts for half.
Image source: Observer.com, application list
Now people are a little puzzled, the "Apollo program" of the United States has got back so many lunar soils, what samples are you looking for now?
Should the mainland give them it?
The Americans have never been to the moon
To this day, there are still many people who firmly believe that the "Apollo moon landing program" carried out by the United States in the last century is an outright lie, and that it was those American astronauts and politicians who jointly told a lie.
Where does this begin?
As early as 1969, the U.S. "Apollo 11" moon landing program was postponed many times, and there were all kinds of speculations in the market, and when the U.S. "Artemis 1" moon landing program was postponed again in 2022, this kind of doubt became more and more vocal.
People began to suspect that all the videos of the moon landing in the United States were forged in the studio, and that the so-called "lunar soil with great research value" was all "configured" by American scientists according to their own understanding, and that they did not come from the moon at all.
How marketable is this "conspiracy theory"?
Many people are convinced of this, whether it is the offset part of the video or the depression of the lunar soil in the photo, it has been studied countless times, especially after Apollo 17, the United States has not landed on the moon for more than 50 years, which has deepened this impression.
It is for this reason that some netizens feel that we must not hand over our lunar soil to the United States, they have never been to the moon, and they must not give the samples we have worked so hard to bring back to the United States, which is the most valuable wealth of the country.
However, in my opinion, this statement is not necessary, because in academic circles, the American moon landing is an indisputable fact.
Maybe most people don't understand those scientific terms, but think about it, if the U.S. moon landing is fake, then with the former Soviet Union's infiltration of the United States, can this kind of news not be crazy propaganda?
and Ouyang Ziyuan, an academician of the Continental Academy of Sciences, also said in a program that he specifically asked important people from NASA, the US space agency, why they didn't explain this rumor. The evidence and results left by the Apollo moon landing are extremely massive, and countless evidence and achievements have corroborated this, and scientific research institutions around the world can also corroborate each other.
Unexpectedly, Academician Ouyang heard an unusual answer, only to see those American colleagues refuse, and said: "They can say whatever they like." ”
Later, Academician Ouyang understood that the state at that time was the best, and the louder the questioning, the greater the heat, and the truth was more and more clear, and the more details of the controversy, the more conducive to the dissemination of aerospace knowledge.
Shangguan News-Observer.com, published on December 27, 2020
This conclusion is naturally correct, such as the remains of the Apollo 11 moon landing, even if decades have passed, when the mainland Chang'e-2 flew into the sky, it still took that photo very clearly.
From this point of view, the truth is indeed becoming clearer and clearer, and sometimes some strange statements can indeed promote the development of science.
For example, many people know that the Long March rocket carrying Chang'e-5 weighs more than 800 tons, but they didn't expect to bring back only 1,731 grams of lunar soil in the end.
But this is not right at all, you know, the Apollo moon landing spacecraft Saturn V has a take-off weight of more than 3,000 tons, but in the end it can still bring back dozens of kilograms of lunar soil, two tall and strong astronauts and a lot of life-sustaining equipment.
Chang'e-5 and the Apollo spacecraft are both liquid oxygen and kerosene rockets, how can there be such a big gap?
In fact, by design, the actual capabilities of the Chang'e-5 propulsion system are much more than that, bringing back about 10 kilograms.
However, since it was our first time collecting lunar soil, there were a lot of unexpected factors that had to be taken into account.
For example, if astronauts are actually on the moon, they can use various methods to carry out convenient collection work, but if there is no one to sample, the ground personnel must be deeply involved, and countless people work together to complete the sampling, and the process is extremely complex.
How complex is the process?
You must know that in the 70s of the last century, the Soviets also completed 3 unmanned lunar sampling missions, but in the end they only brought back 326 grams of lunar soil.
From this point of view, the fact that we can bring back 1,731 grams of lunar soil in one sitting is quite remarkable.
Many people may see this and wonder what is the use of lunar soil, why do we have to go to great lengths to bring it back?
What is lunar soil used for?
Lunar soil is of course useful, whether it is from the propaganda sense or the scientific research level, we all need this 1731 grams of lunar soil, the propaganda significance does not need to be said, the Chinese have talked about the Chang'e moon landing for thousands of years, our ancestors have long wanted to go up to see, today finally got what they wanted, how romantic.
What exactly is lunar soil used for?
I remember that after taking back the lunar soil, there were many people who joked that they wanted to know if this thing could grow vegetables, and the talent of the Chinese was to farm the land, and when they saw a piece of soil, they wanted to grow something, and this devotion to food has been engraved into the bones.
So, when people first learned that lunar soil does not contain any organic ingredients, whether it is cabbage or potatoes, they are still a little disappointed.
However, there is indeed a larger treasure trove in the lunar soil, and scientists have found that after countless years of solar wind devastation on the moon, a large amount of helium-3 remains in the soil, which is a very likely clean energy source for thermonuclear fusion power generation in the future.
Because of the earth's magnetic field, the current helium-3 content on our earth is only about 500 kilograms, but there are about 1 million to 5 million tons in the lunar soil.
What is this concept?
According to the study, only 100 tons of helium-3 are needed to meet the world's energy needs for a year, and the world will never fall into energy anxiety again.
On September 9, 2022, the China Atomic Energy Agency and the China National Space Administration held a press conference, at which relevant people said that our Beijing Institute of Geology has discovered a new mineral on the moon, named "Chang'e", which is the sixth new mineral discovered by mankind, which has never appeared before.
This kind of "Chang'e stone" is also inconsistent with the chemical composition of all the rocks on the earth, this is the meaning of scientific research, no matter how many times other countries have been to the moon, China still has the meaning of going, in the broad stage of the universe, "black eyes" also have a unique contribution to mankind.
Although the Americans have been to the moon more than once and brought back more than 300 kilograms of lunar soil from six moon landings, they still do not have our unique discovery.
On the other hand, our moon landing is difficult and technical, and the elemental metal iron that causes the disproportionation reaction has been discovered.
In the lunar soil samples, we found that they contain natural glass fibers, which are completely different from the original samples.
This small sample has now become a very coveted treasure in the world's scientific community.
This can be seen from the scramble for lunar soil by various organizations around the world, with Americans accounting for half of the applicants, and Britain, France, Japan, Germany, and Pakistan also want to know the mysteries contained in the lunar soil.
list
It stands to reason that the mainland has also accepted lunar soil from the United States, but the United States has done many things that are not authentic, and in order to occupy an absolute advantage in the scientific and technological competition with the mainland, they have tried to find ways to restrict the development of the mainland's aerospace industry, and have specially formulated a document called the "Wolf Clause."
This document stipulates that starting in 2011, China cannot cooperate with many professional institutions in the United States in aerospace scientific research, especially with NASA (NASA), to put it bluntly, they are still worried about the rapid development of China's space technology, so they have monopolized their own technology.
But now they are really "shooting themselves in the foot", and the lunar soil is so precious that the United States seems to want to temporarily invalidate the clause so that it can obtain a rare sample of lunar soil for study.
This practice of "suspending the implementation of a provision if it is beneficial to them and if it is unfavorable" has really shocked people's attention and is quite a bit of a "rogue."
epilogue
The purpose of scientific research is to benefit mankind, and their "double standard" operation is certainly frowned upon, but we will still be in the spirit of internationalism, when the conditions are right, we will give them a part of the lunar soil for research, according to official media disclosures, the Chang'e-5 mission lunar sample first international loan review meeting will be held on April 26 at the China University of Geosciences.
This is the strength of the Chinese, and we are also people who really practice the phrase "science without borders".
Finally, I would like to add something interesting, in the process of analyzing lunar soil, the Americans actually discovered the method of growing vegetables on lunar soil.
It may not be long before the Chinese actually land on the moon one day, and they may open up a field there to plant vegetables and fruits, and the "Moon Palace" may no longer be a legend.
What do you think about this, welcome to express your opinions!
The sources in this article are from:
1. "China will review applications for international loan of lunar samples, 5 out of 10 applicants are from the United States", Observer.com, April 12, 2024;
2. "China is about to review the application for international loan of lunar samples, NASA wants the U.S. Congress to give the green light", Global Network, April 12, 2024;
3. "Was the Apollo Moon Landing a Hoax?" "The Father of Chang'e": If Americans Don't Explain, It Becomes a Free Science Popularization Campaign", Shangguan News-Observer.com, December 7, 2020;
4. "Clear enough to see the remains of the Apollo moon landing", Phoenix.com-Today's Morning Post, published on February 7, 2012;
5. "Chang'e Returns, "Lunar Soil" Enters a New Home, Human Beings Bring Lunar Samples Back to Earth Again After 44 Years", China Youth Daily, released on December 22, 2020;
6. "Scientists shout to Chinese netizens: lunar soil does not contain organic nutrients and cannot grow vegetables, but don't be disappointed", Qilu One Point, released on December 18, 2020;
7. "Human beings successfully used lunar soil to plant plants for the first time! lunar soil is also divided into "fat and thin", and the next step is to go to the moon to plant" Red Star News, released on May 13, 2022, but in order to improve the readability of the article, the details may be polished, please read sensibly, for reference only!