Moon cooperation beats competition as Chang’e-6 lunar samples offered to international scientists
- Space science may be one area that can escape the intense rivalry between China and the West
In a symbolic move, the Chang’e-6 lander unfurled China’s national flag and collected lunar earth samples on the far side of the moon. Now, the mother ship is preparing for the journey home.
It is the second time for China – the first country to achieve the technically challenging feat – to land on the far side, and the first time it has collected moon rocks from there.
The breakthrough deserves national celebration. At the same time, Chinese authorities are right to stress the international dimension of the moon programme to promote global cooperation.
Like the previous rock samples taken from the near side of the moon, the latest rocks will be shared with international scientists, once their Chinese counterparts have a first look at them. Space science may be one area that can escape the intense rivalry between China and the West in the hope for collaboration.
Unlike the near side, the far side, which faces away from the Earth, is tough to reach both because of the greater distance, and the more difficult terrain of deep giant craters and few flat surfaces.
Beside the technical breakthroughs, the rocks from the hitherto unexplored area – which are expected to be younger than previous samples – can help address fundamental questions about how planets and their satellites were formed.
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China’s Chang’e-6 touches down on far side of moon on mission to bring rock samples back to Earth
There is a global moon rush at the moment, and therefore intense competition. India, France, the United States and Russia are all developing their own exploratory space technology to go to the to the moon and beyond.
Last August, India successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft close to the lunar south pole, making it the fourth nation to accomplish a moon landing.
It arrived just days after Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft crashed on the lunar surface, its first landing attempt in almost half a century.
A previous Chandrayaan-2 landing in 2019 ended in failure. Meanwhile, both the US and China want to put astronauts on the moon before the end of this decade.
A little competition keeps everyone on their toes. But it must not spiral out of control – such as what happened during the Cold War – to become part of the rivalry and conflicts into which the nations are already drawn.
