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China's space programme
ChinaScience

China’s lunar sample gifts to France, Russia have scientists over the moon

  • China gifted moon dust samples to the French president during his visit earlier this month, country’s space agency says
  • Lunar samples from Chang’e-5 mission have shed new light on moon’s more recent history

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China gave soil samples from its lunar exploration programme’s Chang’e-5 mission to the visiting French president earlier this month, the country’s space agency said on Monday. Photo: Reuters
Ling Xinin Beijing

China’s space agency has revealed that the country recently gifted France and Russia with small samples of lunar soil, which are expected to help scientists in the two countries make giant leaps in their understanding of the evolution of the moon.

During his visit to China earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron was presented with 1.5 grams (0.05 oz) of moon dust for research purposes that had been brought to Earth by the Chang’e-5 space mission, according to Guan Feng from the China National Space Administration in Anhui province.
The sample included 1g of material scooped from the moon’s surface and 0.5g of subsurface material obtained from drilling.

In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin also brought home 1.5g of Chang’e-5 samples after his visit to China. In return, during President Xi Jinping’s trip to Russia this March, he was presented with 1.5g of lunar soil obtained during the Soviet Luna-16 mission in 1970, Guan told the audience during the opening ceremony of this year’s Space Day of China in Hefei on Monday.

“This gift from China to France is proof of the strong friendship and partnership between our two countries,” said French geologist Thomas Smith, from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

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China’s Shenzhou 15 astronaut crew complete their first spacewalk

China’s Shenzhou 15 astronaut crew complete their first spacewalk
“Chang’e 5 samples are the first material brought back from the moon after the Apollo and Luna missions. They represent the youngest-ever lunar soils brought back to Earth. Therefore, they are of high scientific value and give insights into the events that happened late in the moon’s history,” said Smith, who was the first foreign national to receive Chang’e-5 samples in 2021.

During the fifth mission of China’s Lunar Exploration Programme in 2020, the Chang’e-5 probe landed near Mons Rümker in the Ocean of Storms, a vast lunar mare on the northwest edge of the near side of the moon.

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