by Space agency-funded researchers have been green-lit by NASA to apply for access to Chinese lunar samples returned to Earth by that country’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission.
In December 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission returned to Earth 3.8 pounds (1,731 grams) of lunar rocks and soil from its Oceanus Procellarum probe site on the side of the moon.
Recently, China provided those samples to researchers from other countries. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is conducting the 7th round of requests for access to Chang’e-5 lunar samples, an opportunity that is open until December 22nd this year.
Now, in a statement from NASA’s Integrated System for Review and Evaluation of Candidates and Proposals (NSPIRES) the space agency has confirmed to Congress its intention to allow NASA-funded researchers to apply for access to Chang’e-5 samples.
“The Chang’e-5 samples come from regions of the Moon that have not yet been sampled by NASA and are expected to provide valuable new scientific insight into the geological history of the Moon, potentially providing a new understanding of the Earth system -moon and that may be aware. NASA’s lunar exploration plans for the future,” the statement says. “Sampling disruption will ensure that US researchers have the same research opportunities as scientists around the world.”
Related: China makes Chang’e 5 lunar samples open to international researchers
Application portal
The CNSA application portal opened on 6 November, and does not close until 22 December. NASA researchers only received permission to submit applications on Nov. 29, NASA spokeswoman Roxana Bardan told Space.com.
If a NASA-funded researcher’s application is selected, NASA should be notified for guidance on next steps, the NASA statement adds. “At the moment, we have no information about what the post-selection guide will be,” said Bardan.
In the NSPIRES statement, the new allowance specifically applies to Chang’e-5 mission examples, adding that “the usual ban on bilateral activity with PRC [People’s Republic of China] on NASA-funded projects are still in place,” the statement says.
Wolf amendment
There is a US law in place called 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-Appropriations subcommittee that NASA funds China’s human rights abuses, property theft US intellectual, and other geopolitical amendment. issues.
“The Wolf Amendment is not an outright ban on cooperation, but NASA must first get congressional approval and satisfy several conditions. The language is regularly included in NASA’s annual appropriations bills,” agrees Marcia Smith, editor of the SpacePolicyOnline .com informative.
Science diplomacy
Meanwhile, US lunar researchers are delighted to learn of NASA’s progress.
“This is excellent news because it allows US-based scientists to bring their expertise to investigate these unique lunar samples,” said Clive Neal, a leading lunar expert at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. the initial age data from the young basalts in the Chang’e-5 sample return and being involved in some of the first publications, this is the first time we have been allowed access to the actual samples,” he said by Space.com.
Neal said he congratulates NASA for making this access to the Chinese lunar samples. “I hope this leads to an exemplary exchange between the United States and China, which was repeated between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War,” he said.
Such sample exchanges lead to a thawing of relations through “science diplomacy,” Neal said, “and this is a great start.”
A new opportunity
“I think it’s great to open up this new opportunity for US scientists,” said Lisa Gaddis, Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute under the University Space Research Association. “This opens the door to new collaborations and likely 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 to understand how the volcanism of the moon has changed over time.”
In particular, Gaddis said the Chang’e-5 lunar samples have already raised questions about the moon’s thermal and magmatic evolution, particularly how the lunar interior remained hot enough to support recent volcanism.
Moon puzzle
James Head at Brown University in Rhode Island, a veteran lunar scientist who worked on the Apollo lunar program, is equally enthusiastic about improved research access to Chinese lunar specimens.
“The Chang’e-5 mission has provided an important missing piece of the lunar puzzle by returning samples from the northwestern Oceanus Procellarum, one of the youngest unsampled lava flow units on the moon,” said Head. “The Chinese investigators have provided an important framework for further investigation in the next phase of the analysis,” he told Space.com.
“I hope this new development at NASA will pave the way for more international sample exchange in the future as the United States, China, and other agencies bring additional samples from the moon, Mars, asteroids and comets,” said Head. “The solar system is a big place, and planetary science can benefit enormously from complementary, non-duplicate exploration destinations, and sharing other samples and results.”
Later examples
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Meanwhile, Chinese lunar exploration planners are detailing the country’s next robotic lunar exploration mission, Chang’e-6, to be launched around 2024. This lunar lander is to be set down in the South Pole Basin- Aitken on the side of the moon and collect samples, then rocket those samples to Earth.
Like the successful Chang’e-5 return sample probe, Chang’e-6 will have four components: Orbiter, lander, ascender and Earth re-entry module.
Chang’e-6 will attempt to retrieve 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 brought back from the far side of the moon.
