The Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration delivered the first batch of lunar samples brought back by the Chang’e-5 at a ceremony on July 12. Among the 31 institutions which had applied for research programs to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center, CUG was one of the 13 institutions that obtained lunar samples. Prof. WANG Zaicong and Prof. HE Qi from the School of Earth Sciences received “CE5C0400”, which is 200 milligrams.
Prof. WANG shows the lunar sample
Prof. WANG (first from the left) gets the certificate of the lunar sample on behalf of CUG
The certificate of the lunar sample
The exterior of the lunar sample
The lunar sample is in fine powder form and kept in a small glass bottle from the moisture in the air. CUG team will research on the lunar sample, figuring out the structure and components of the lunar soil.
The lunar sample
WANG treasures this rare research opportunity, saying that the vast majority of the lunar samples collected during the Apollo era are ancient samples from more than 3 billion years ago, while the samples retrieved by China this time maybe very young (from about more than 1 billion years ago), which is of great scientific value in portraying the deep processes and evolutionary history of the Moon from ancient to modern times.
(Edited and translated from the Chinese version)
