The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
Our Chang'e-6 has returned successfully! In order to celebrate this event, all major platforms are actively giving everyone science popularization in this action, China's various aerospace achievements and world-leading capabilities.
Foreign media evaluation of the success of Chang'e-6
Even because this is a groundbreaking event for all mankind's space exploration, even those foreign media that have always been very biased against China have no choice but to put aside their various views and applaud our tremendous achievements.
Schematic diagram of Chang'e-6's return to Earth
But among these statements, there are some that gradually appear a little different. For example, I have recently seen a lot of people doing a kind of "popular science", they say that our returner uses Mach 31 re-entry orbit, and then uses a kind of "water drifting" to accurately reach the predetermined position, which is very "terrifying".
China and Argentina signed a ceremony for the return of cultural relics
In the end, they believed that it was precisely because we had "demonstrated" such capabilities that many countries were "shocked" severely, and then gave an example, which was the recent uproar about the "return of cultural relics", which linked the two things.
To be honest, at first glance, these statements are quite reasonable, and this statement also boosts our "national self-confidence", but if you think about it carefully, is this really the case? Is our Mach 31 return really so much "deterrent", or is it just "concocted" by some people? [Beer]
1
Is the so-called "Mach 31" really so deterrent?
"Drifting" trajectory diagram
If we want to make this clear, we need to understand one thing clearly, that is, is what they say true? The first is the issue of return speed, in fact, any spacecraft will inevitably be accelerated when returning due to the problem of the Earth's mass, for example, our Chang'e-6 entered the Earth's atmosphere for the first time at an altitude of about 120 kilometers and close to the second cosmic speed (about 11.2 km/s).
CCTV reported on the news of Chang'e-5 in 2020
There is nothing wrong with this data itself, if it is calculated according to the normal temperature and pressure, this speed is not too big a problem to say that the so-called "Mach 31", but if we compare it, we will find that we can use this speed to return as early as Chang'e-5.
Soviet ZonD6 lunar probe
And when is this all about it, it is 2020, if you want to use this thing for the so-called "deterrence", then as early as a few years ago, we have already "deterred" ah. And if you compare the relevant technical level of foreign countries, the Soviets actually achieved it on the Zond 6 probe very early, not only the second cosmic speed re-entry, but also the jump return, of course, that load and accuracy are still incomparable with us.
Schematic diagram of the return of the U.S. Orion unmanned probe to Earth in 2022
And when I say this, I don't mean that our technology is not powerful, in fact, our control system and attitude adjustment and other fields are world-class. For example, our Chang'e-5 was able to accurately reach the landing point at the second cosmic speed as early as 2020, while compared to the American Orion, the same thing will not be realized until 2022.
2
The continent's attitude towards space and outer space development
Map of the manned moon landing of the United States
And at one time, in the eyes of almost everyone, the space gap between us and the United States can be said to be "a world of difference." And now, in many areas of detail, we have not lost, and it can even be said that we are ahead of the United States in some projects. You must know that when our first satellite was launched into the sky, the United States was able to land people on the moon, what a big gap there was!
Chang'e VI
In the meantime, our industrial personnel, I don't know how much effort they have put in, rely on the efforts of generations of engineers and scientists, and slowly catch up with or even partially surpass the once unreachable United States. As the chief engineer of our lunar exploration project said, after we have completed the manned lunar landing and even the moon base by 2030, we will no longer be a "country to follow", but a pathfinder and pathfinder of human civilization.
Chang'e VI
However, this mission is obviously a very bright phased achievement in the direction that the mainland aerospace has been advancing. I believe that there will be no shortage of such examples in the future, but what is being discussed in public opinion is not our achievements in scientific exploration, but has been tilted towards "deploying weapons in space" or "nuclear bombs that cannot be intercepted".
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
This is a very strange phenomenon, and the most important thing is that we can see a signal that the authorities have been conveying, that is, our development and utilization of outer space is based on peace and the common progress of all mankind. And who likes to make up the so-called "theory of China's outer space weapons" the most? There is no doubt that the Americans.
3
Americans' favorite "China Space Threat Theory"
And the one who likes to engage in "conspiracy theories" in this area the most is actually the United States, to be precise, NASA. In fact, at a "hearing" not long ago, their director used this reason to discredit us. And as long as we have any progress on the moon, he will jump out and say that we are preparing to "weaponize" and think that we are engaged in the so-called "space arms race".
So you only have to look at the difference in attitudes between the two sides to clearly see what we're doing. And if we take 10,000 steps back, even if we really "deter" the world because of the so-called "deterrence" of such technology, it was already shown when Chang'e-5 came back in 2020, why is it being hyped up again.
4
The thing behind the so-called "restitution" of artifacts
And their other so-called "argument" is the same problem. At first glance, it sounds like this, but if you look closely, you will find that there are very obvious traces of "splicing". If we "trace" the content of this news, we can find that the "return of cultural relics" they talked about did happen a few days ago.
But if we look at the source of the incident, we can clearly see that this incident actually originated 6-7 years ago, and then this incident was actually led by Interpol, in fact, the purpose is to crack down on the illegal "transnational cultural relics" trade, and then for these seized cultural relics, it is natural that they should be returned to us.
But such a matter of course, it should have been returned to us in 2019, but I didn't expect to be delayed by the other party. As a last resort, a complex negotiation process was carried out for the ownership of these things, and the negotiations were not concluded until the end of 23 years, and the "restitution" agreement was adopted.
So you can see that this matter really has nothing to do with the so-called "deterrence". It was not that the other party was "influenced" by us and took the initiative to return the cultural relics to us, but that the "stolen goods" that were originally seized by Interpol and then finally got back with the active efforts of our diplomats.
5
Rationality and objectivity are the basis on which we make judgments
I do not mean by saying this to deny the development of our country's space industry, still less to deny the strength of our various military technologies. Rather, we feel that our views on these things should be based on a kind of rationality and facts, rather than "splicing news" through various "grafting".
Obviously, we have made great progress in both aerospace and military, and even if we take it out in a dignified manner, we are still very powerful, such as our world's exclusive moon back digging, which can silence those foreign media who have smeared us all year round, and the director of NASA, who has been smearing us all year round, have tried every means to cooperate with us.
So we really don't have to, proud of such bizarre "popular science" and spliced and fabricated "news". Even from a factual point of view, we are proud of our achievements!
On the contrary, the act of producing this kind of "splicing news" is actually "consuming" everyone's patriotic enthusiasm, and purely using everyone's feelings to seek "traffic". We should still dry our eyes and start from a factual and rational point of view to avoid being "taken into the rhythm"!
Resources:
[1] China Youth Network - 2024.06.28"Welcome Home! Argentina returned 14 cultural relics and works of art to the mainland》
[2] Observer.com - 2024.04.18 "NASA Administrator Hypes Up the "Space Race" for Funding and Claims that China Militarizes Space Program"
[3] CCTV News - 2020.11.24 "Returning to the heart is like an arrow but can't be too fast? Chang'e-5 "went home" on the way to play "water drifting" →"