by NASA has given space agency-funded researchers the green light to request access to Chinese lunar samples returned to Earth through that country’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission.
In December 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission delivered 3.8 pounds (1,731 grams) of lunar rocks and soil to Earth from its Oceanus Procellarum exploration site on the near side of the Moon.
More recently, China has made those samples available to researchers in other countries. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is now organizing the seventh round of receiving applications to access lunar samples from Chang’e-5, an opportunity that is open until December 22 of this year.
Now, in a statement from NASA’s Integrated Request and Proposal Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES), the space agency has certified its intention to Congress to allow NASA-funded researchers to request access to Chang’ samples. e-5.
“The Chang’e-5 samples originate from regions of the Moon not yet sampled by NASA and are expected to provide valuable new scientific insights into the geological history of the Moon, which could provide new understanding of the Earth-Moon system and potentially inform future NASA lunar exploration plans,” the statement added. “Requesting samples will ensure that American researchers have the same research opportunities as scientists around the world.”
Related: China opens Chang’e 5 moon samples to international researchers
Application portal
The CNSA application portal opened on November 6 and does not close until December 22. NASA researchers only got approval to submit applications on Nov. 29, NASA spokesperson Roxana Bardan told Space.com.
If a NASA-funded researcher’s application is selected, NASA should be informed for guidance on next steps, the NASA statement added. “At this time, we have no information on what post-screening orientation will entail,” Bardan said.
In the NSPIRES statement, the new authorization applies specifically to samples from the Chang’e-5 mission, adding that “the normal prohibition of bilateral activity with the People’s Republic of China [People’s Republic of China] on NASA-funded projects remains valid,” the statement says.
wolf amendment
There is a US law known as the Wolf amendment that prohibits cooperation between the US space agency NASA and Chinese government entities.
Originally sponsored by now-retired Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) when he chaired the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, the amendment was sparked by China’s human rights abuses, the theft of American intellectual property and other geopolitical issues. affairs.
“The Wolf Amendment is not an outright ban on cooperation, but NASA must first obtain permission from Congress and meet a number of conditions. The language is routinely included in NASA’s annual appropriations bills,” notes Marcia Smith, editor of the news site SpacePolicyOnline.com.
Scientific diplomacy
Meanwhile, American lunar researchers are delighted to learn of NASA’s go-ahead.
“This is excellent news, as it allows American scientists to bring their expertise to the investigation of these unique lunar samples,” said Clive Neal, a leading lunar expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. “While some American scientists were lucky enough to interpret “The initial age data for the young basalts contained in the Chang’e-5 sample return and will be involved in some of the first publications; this is the first time we are allowed access to the actual samples,” he told Space.com.
Neal said he salutes NASA for making this access to China’s lunar specimens possible. “I hope this will lead to a sample exchange between the United States and China, as was done several times between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War,” she said.
These sample exchanges led to a thawing of relations through “scientific diplomacy,” Neal said, “and this is a surprising start.”
New opportunity
“I think it’s wonderful to see this new opportunity open to American scientists,” said Lisa Gaddis, director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute at the University Space Research Association. “This opens the door to new collaborations and probably new results that shed light on the origin of some of the youngest volcanic materials sampled on the Moon.”
The Chang’e-5 samples come from a previously unsampled lunar region in northern Oceanus Procellarum, near Mons Rumker, Gaddis said. Some of the most recent (youngest) lunar basalts are observed there, “so understanding their ages helps understand how lunar volcanism changed over time.”
In particular, Gaddis said lunar samples from Chang’e-5 have already raised questions about the moon’s thermal and magmatic evolution, especially how the lunar interior remained hot enough to support volcanism so recently.
lunar puzzles
Equally encouraged by the increased access to research on Chinese lunar specimens is James Head of Brown University in Rhode Island, a veteran lunar scientist who worked on the Apollo lunar program.
“The Chang’e-5 mission has provided an important missing piece of the lunar puzzle by returning samples from the near northwest to Oceanus Procellarum, in one of the youngest unsampled lava flow units on the Moon,” Head said. “Chinese researchers have provided an important framework for further research to be carried out in this next phase of analysis,” she told Space.com.
“I hope this new NASA development paves the way for greater international sample sharing in the future as the United States, China and other agencies return additional samples from the Moon, Mars, asteroids and comets,” Head said. “The solar system is a big place, and planetary science can benefit greatly from complementary, non-duplicated exploration destinations, and from the sharing of samples and other results.”
Far Side Samples
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Meanwhile, China’s lunar exploration planners are detailing the country’s next robotic lunar probe mission, Chang’e-6, which will launch around 2024. This lunar lander will land in the south pole’s Aitken Basin, on the far side of the moon, and collect samples and then launch them to Earth.
Like the successful Chang’e-5 return sampling probe, Chang’e-6 will consist of four components: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and an Earth reentry module.
Chang’e-6 will attempt to recover one to two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of lunar samples, according to Chinese lunar experts. If successful, Chang’e-6 would mark the first samples returned from the far side of the moon.
