A few days ago, at 14:07 on June 25, the mainland's Chang'e-6 probe successfully completed the lunar exploration sampling mission, and its return capsule landed precisely in the predetermined area of the Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia, which marked a new stage in China's exploration of the moon and even space.
Chang'e-6 brought back a total of 1,935.3 grams of lunar soil, and the British newspaper The Guardian praised it: "China became the first country to collect lunar soil from the far side of the moon and bring it back to Earth, which is a milestone achievement for China's space program." ”
So far, only China and the United States have been able to collect samples from the moon in the world, but the lunar soil collected by Chang'e-6 is not the same as that collected by the U.S. Apollo program and the Soviet Union's lunar exploration program.
The Chang'e-6 returner landed in Inner Mongolia
For example, the lunar soil collected by the Apollo program is relatively homogeneous, with about 7 minerals, and it has always been grayish-white. The lunar soil collected by Chang'e-6 and even Chang'e-5 has a total of 24 minerals, mainly including olivine, alumina, pyrrhotite, etc., so the lunar soil collected by the mainland is bright in color.
There is no doubt that the lunar soil collected by China is more valuable for scientific research than that collected by the United States 50 years ago, not to mention that we have also brought back samples from the far side of the moon, which is still relatively unfamiliar to humans, because apart from the Chinese probe, no other country has successfully landed and brought back lunar soil samples.
The Chang'e-6 landing area was chosen in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon, which is recognized by the world as the largest, oldest and deepest basin on the Moon. Therefore, the lunar samples collected here are undoubtedly older and older, which will help mankind further analyze the structure, physical properties, and material composition of lunar soil, and deepen the study of the origin and evolution history of the moon.
Because of this, scientific research institutions around the world are eager for cooperation, and have applied to China for cooperation in the study of lunar back samples. This makes the United States "sour", because the United States is not among the applications.
In response, NASA spokesman Feith Marco complained that China has cooperated with France, Italy, Pakistan and the European Space Agency on missions to collect samples from the far side of the moon, but has not sought cooperation with NASA. In addition, he emphasized that while China welcomes scientists from all over the world to participate in the study of lunar soil, China has not directly invited NASA to participate.
From Marco's words, we can hear that in the face of China's achievements in the field of lunar exploration, in addition to "sour", the hearts of Americans also want to join in sharing the results of lunar soil research results, but NASA is limited by domestic laws and cannot apply for cooperation, so I hope China will take the initiative, but we will not be used to it.
NASA
On July 1, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to the incident at a press conference, saying that the Chinese government has always been open to China-US space exchanges and cooperation, and that the Chang'e-6 mission has issued an announcement on cooperation opportunities to the world, and we also welcome countries around the world to participate in the study of lunar samples.
In this speech, Mao Ning also specifically mentioned the "Wolf Clause" that hinders Sino-US space exchanges and cooperation, saying that the US side seems to have forgotten the existence of domestic laws such as the "Wolf Clause", and does not know whether US scientists and relevant institutions will be allowed to participate in exchanges and cooperation by their own governments.
The response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs echoes the reason why NASA was not invited, that is, they themselves imposed restrictions on themselves, and it can be said that this response is a direct poke at the lungs of the United States, because in recent years, China's aerospace industry has continued to make breakthroughs and progress, and the criticism of the "Wolf Clause" in the United States has become louder and louder, and this time some foreign media have criticized that the United States' move to pass the "Wolf Clause" is "extremely stupid".
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning
As we all know, the "Wolf Clause" was born in 2011, which clearly prohibits NASA from carrying out any kind of cooperation and exchanges with Chinese aerospace research institutions or entities, otherwise it will be regarded as illegal. At that time, China's aviation science and technology level was indeed inferior to that of the United States, so the United States wanted to restrict the development of China's aerospace industry, just like prohibiting China from participating in the construction of the International Space Station in the 90s of the last century, but the result made the United States feel very slap in the face.
Because of the blockade of the United States, we moved forward bravely and independently began to build our own Chinese space station, and in April 2021, the "Tiangong" space station independently developed by China was officially opened. Subsequently, the United States shamelessly wanted to cooperate with China on the space station, and even accused the "Tiangong" space station logo should not use Chinese.
China Aerospace
Today, China's aerospace level has ranked among the top in the world, and it has made outstanding achievements in space exploration projects such as lunar exploration and fire exploration, so the United States has always shown a strong willingness to cooperate with China. However, the "Wolf Clause" introduced by the US Congress more than 10 years ago has now become a shackle for US cooperation with China in the field of space. It can be said that the pit dug by the United States more than 10 years ago in a vain attempt to hinder China's aerospace development is now burying the United States itself.
At present, there are voices in the United States calling for the abolition of the "Wolf Clause", for example, former NASA Administrator Bolden has said: "The 'Wolf Clause' should be abolished, and it is not beneficial to restrict Sino-US scientific and technological exchanges." But having said that, it is still more difficult for the United States to repeal the "Wolf Clause", because it is not only about the face of the US Congress, but also this move will be regarded as a compromise with China, which is full of "anti-China atmosphere" in the current American political arena, and a compromise with China means that it is soft on China, and no one can withstand the blow of this political boomerang.