“I brought a sample of the surface of the moon in 44 years”

China’s unmanned lunar probe,’Changeo (嫦娥) 5’collected samples of the lunar surface and returned safely at the dawn of the 17th. Moon sampling was 44 years after the Soviet’Luna 24′ robot exploration in 1976. Major Chinese media congratulated themselves, saying, “China has entered the ranks of the space powerhouse.”

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said on this day, “With China succeeding in collecting lunar samples, it has become a country that has succeeded in its third lunar exploration since the US and the former Soviet Union.” There are many titles of’first time’,” he emphasized.

According to the Shinhwa news agency, Changeo 5 landed in the’sea of ​​storm’, a lava plain that humans have never been to. It is expected that the rocks and soils of this region are formed relatively recently compared to other regions, which will help study the volcanic activity of the moon. China’s state-run Global Times said, “In January of last year, Changeo 4 landed on the back of the moon for the first time, and Changeo 5 also continued its’first’ title as it first explored a new area of ​​the moon.” It is a new record that the weight of the collected sample reaches 2 kg. This is about six times the amount of 330g collected by the Luna 24 of the former Soviet Union. The reason Changeo 5 was able to collect a large number of samples was because it drastically reduced the fuel it would use to return to Earth. In the past, in the US and the former Soviet Union, the lunar lander returned to Earth using its own fuel. However, because Changeo 5 used a method of docking with a return ship in the lunar orbit, it was possible to return with relatively little fuel. Shinhwa news agency said, “The docking work of the Changeo 5 and the return ship in the moon’s orbit is the best space technology.” “The researchers practiced 661 times for safe docking between spacecraft moving at high speed.” In July of this year, China launched the Mars probe’Tianyuan 1′, and this time, Changeo 5 has been steadily implementing a’space drill’ plan, such as returning from the mission. China sent 66 rockets into space through 27 rocket launches last year, and this year also launched more than 40 rockets into space. It plans to launch at least 80 rockets into space next year.

On this day, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated the return of Changeo 5 safely and sent a congratulatory congratulation to the researchers who participated in the project in the name of the heads of the party, government, and military. “This project has made great progress in China’s aerospace technology,” Xi said.

Beijing = Correspondent Kiyong Kim [email protected]