At 14:07 on June 25th, the Chinese Chang'e-6 spacecraft safely landed in the designated area of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, carrying samples from the far side of the moon. The Nature website has paid close attention to this historic event. The article reports that the first batch of rocks from the far side of the Moon safely landed on Earth, and scientists are eager to conduct research on these lunar samples. The article states that earlier this month, more than 200 scientists from Chinese universities and research institutions held a meeting in Beijing to discuss what scientific issues they hope to solve by analyzing the samples of Chang'e-6. Participants voted on the three most important questions they considered: why the front and back of the moon are so different, what the deep structure inside the moon looks like, and when the Antarctic Aiken Basin was formed. Patrick Pinnett, a lunar geologist at the Institute of Astrophysics and Planetary Studies (IRAP) in Toulouse, France, watched the return mission in real-time from the control room in Beijing. He pointed out that during this mission, the efficiency of the relevant technology was surprising, and the professional handling of these very complex steps also left a deep impression on him. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the United States, stated that China has a very strong ability to carry out highly complex missions on the moon. The technology of controlling spacecraft and communicating with them to maneuver, land, take off, and rendezvous in lunar orbit is crucial for carrying out manned lunar missions in the near future. Yang Wei from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences pointed out that these samples may be different from the rocks collected on the front of the moon before, and scientists have high expectations for them. The international cooperation spirit presented by the Chang'e-6 mission has also been highly praised. Chang'e-6 carried four international instruments to enter lunar orbit or reach the lunar surface, including the European Space Agency's Lunar Surface Negative Ion Analyzer (NILS), France's Lunar Radon Detector (DORN), Italy's Laser Corner Reflector, and Pakistan's Cube. NILS detected negative ions on the moon for the first time. NILS project manager and Dutch scientist Neil Melville believes that studying these particles helps scientists understand the environment on the lunar surface and helps design future robots and manned missions. DORN Chief Researcher Pierre Yves Meslin stated that during the operation of the instrument on the lunar surface, his team recorded 19 hours of high-quality data, and their research received strong support from institutions such as the National Space Administration of China and the Beijing Space Flight Control Center. Many international scientists also hope to conduct research on the samples of Chang'e-6. For example, using these samples, the start and end times of the lunar magma ocean can be calculated after the occurrence of a massive impact that led to the formation of the moon. The Chang'e-6 mission has successfully concluded, while China's lunar exploration efforts have not stopped. The article in Nature states that China is currently planning the missions of Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8. These two tasks are more complex and are planned to be launched in 2026 and 2028 respectively. (Lai Xin She)
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