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- Source/Insight Geography
- Author/Insight Geography
On June 25 this year, an exciting news came - Chang'e-6 successfully returned to Earth!
As the sixth probe of the mainland's Chang'e lunar exploration program, Chang'e-6 has attracted worldwide attention since its launch from China's Wenchang Cosmodrome on May 3 this year.
The most important reason for this is that Chang'e-6 is tasked with the arduous task of sampling samples from the far side of the moon.
With the blessings and expectations of the Chinese people, after a 53-day journey, Chang'e-6 "lived up to expectations" and brought back 1,935.3 grams of lunar soil from the "Guanghan Palace" 380,000 kilometers away.
However, in the face of such a joyful scene, the US media made some untimely noises.
In their reports, they criticized China, claiming that China should reasonably distribute samples with international organizations, but they are very unhappy that China does not intend to share them with the United States.
Why is the US media so "out of shape" in the face of lunar samples?
Why do they have such speculation that "China will not give the US lunar soil"?
Lunar soil collection is not an easy task
Since ancient times, humans have been curious about the moon.
In ancient times, there were countless poems and myths about the moon.
The name "Chang'e-6", which is now on the moon to explore, comes from the beautiful myth of "Chang'e to the moon" in the mainland.
It was not until July 20, 1969 that the American "Apollo 11" spacecraft successfully landed on the moon, and since then mankind has finally slowly unveiled its mystery.
However, there is still very little understanding of the moon today.
The main reason for this is that the difficulty of "human landing on the moon" is too high.
So far, only nine countries or political coalitions have ever been to or near the moon.
Even the successful landing on the far side of the moon was only done by the mainland on January 3, 2019 through the Chang'e-4 probe.
As a result, the continent became the first country on Earth to make a soft landing on the far side of the moon.
The degree of difficulty can be seen.
The main mission of Chang'e-6 on the far side of the moon this time is to collect lunar soil and return, but the question is, how should Chang'e-6 "land on the moon" and "go home" before that?
The questions of "choosing a landing site" and "how to return" have become the key to the "lunar back sample collection plan".
Faced with the "landing site", mainland researchers finally selected the northeastern side of the Antarctica-Aitken Basin after precise calculations and analysis, and taking into account the demand for lunar soil.
It is reported that it is the largest, deepest and oldest basin on the surface of the moon known at present, with a diameter of about 2,500 kilometers and a depth of about 13 kilometers.
Large and deep means there is plenty of room for it, and its age means that the soil has been formed for a long time, which can be compared with the newer lunar soil collected by Chang'e-5 in the past.
And, according to Lu Yuntong of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, whether it is light, energy, or very important communications, these can be carried out in the Antarctic-Aitken Basin.
It is worth mentioning that in order to better communicate with the far side of the moon, in March this year, the mainland launched the Queqiao-2 relay communication satellite into space as a "transit station" for Chang'e-6 to communicate with the ground.
And after the "moon falls", how to "return" is another issue that must be studied.
According to analysis, after Chang'e-6 enters the Earth, its descent speed can reach a maximum of 11.2 kilometers per second, which is equivalent to the second cosmic speed.
In order to "slow down" Chang'e-6, mainland scientists decided to adopt a "semi-ballistic jump reentry" strategy to make the returner re-enter the atmosphere a second time, reduce the descent speed, and avoid serious damage on the way back.
After overcoming countless problems, Chang'e-6 finally embarked on its own "mission journey".
One can imagine how precious the 1935.3 grams of lunar soil brought back by Chang'e-6 this time is.
In the face of such a precious lunar soil, the United States is naturally "red in the eyes and heartbeat".
It is difficult to dissipate the old and new hatred between China and the United States
In the face of the brazen and arrogant demands of the US media, the mainland has not yet made an official response.
Until now, the United States has not been seen among the countries that have been announced by the mainland to share lunar soil.
To be honest, it is not surprising that this situation can occur between China and the United States.
After all, there are many "grievances" between the mainland and the United States.
As we all know, the mainland was only formally founded in 1949, and since then it has gone through many things before finally groping for a path of development of its own.
It is precisely for this reason that in terms of "aerospace", the mainland really started a little late.
But there is a poem that is well written - "Mo Dao Sangyu is late, and the sky is still full of xia".
Although the mainland started relatively late, it also knows how to try to catch up.
Until 1994, the mainland also applied to join the International Space Station, hoping to exchange and cooperate with other countries to improve its own aerospace technology.
However, the United States refused on the grounds of secrecy, and it was the only one that refused the mainland's accession, and not only that, but the United States also slandered the mainland for wanting to steal their country's space technology.
In 1996, when two military missiles were launched on the mainland, the United States also secretly manipulated GPS, which led to the eventual failure of the launch.
In 2011, the U.S. Congress even formally passed the "Wolf Clause", openly announcing that it would ban all space cooperation projects between China and the United States.
Looking back at the mainland's space history in just a few decades, most of the "villain roles" played by the United States in it.
It can be said that many of the blood and tears in the mainland's aerospace history were deliberately given by the United States.
In addition to the space field, the United States has repeatedly antagonized the mainland in other areas.
Among them, there is no lack of the mainland's bottom line, the Taiwan issue.
US official Nancy Pelosi's "visit to Taiwan" has not yet been forgotten by the Chinese people, and since Lai Qingde became the leader of China's Taiwan region, the US government has also tried to sell weapons to Taiwan, which has made the mainland even more angry.
In addition, the US government has repeatedly instigated the Philippines to "stir up trouble" in the South China Sea.
New hatred and old hatred are superimposed, and it is really difficult for the mainland to give the United States a "good face."
Naturally, the US media is well aware of this, so they are also panicking - what if China holds a grudge and refuses to give the US lunar soil?
In response to this situation, I can only say "I knew today, why bother in the beginning".
Having said that, so far the mainland has not shown any clear attitude toward the United States.
If the United States can give the mainland any "big gift", perhaps the mainland will not necessarily share lunar soil with the United States?
All in all, whether or not the United States is given lunar soil, the mainland will inevitably consider it based on its own national interests.
Looking back at the past, we can also predict that in the future aerospace field, China will inevitably create brilliance again. #长文创作激励计划#
Resources:
How many countries do you know that have been on the moon? _The Paper_The Paper
Chang'e-6 is cleaner than the courier, how did you do it? _The Paper_The Paper
1935.3 grams! Chang'e-6 brings back 1935.3 grams of lunar souvenirs (gmw.cn)
Chang'e-6 "Toad Palace Wins Again": A Sweep of Lunar Soil, Ten Thousand Years of Stars (hnr.cn)
If the United States wants lunar soil, will China give it? Famous mouth responds: The United States wants? Don't give! _News Channel_China.com (china.com)