China is completing new achievements every day, and it seems that they’ll soon claim the status of a unique superpower that US currently holds. Last week, they launched the world’s first 6G satellite which no other country will be able to do for another 10 years.
And now they have landed on the moon, and did something that no other country has been able to do except the USA.
US had a flag on the moon but it’s gone now
Fifty-one years ago, when the US landed Apollo 11 on the moon they had hoisted their flag. China’s Chang’e lander did the same, as it unfurled the flag and set it up in the moon’s soil.
The unique thing about the Chinese flag is that it is specially designed to survive the harsh conditions on the moon. CGTN reports that the ordinary flags on the moon can fade very quickly, and then start to decompose due to the strong radiation, continuous sunlight, and the huge temperature difference between the lunar days when the temperature rises to 100° C and the nights when it drops to -150° C.
The US flag set up in 1969 turned white long ago, and now it has decomposed – scientists say. So currently the only flag on the moon belongs to China.
China wanted their flag to survive on the moon, so they spent one year in designing such a flag that can survive all the harsh conditions.
First moon samples in the last 40 years
After setting up the flag and collecting samples, the ascent module lifted off, attached itself to the moon orbiter and the service module that is orbiting the Earth. Now, the spacecraft is coming back to Earth with the collected samples of the moon’s rock and soil.
This will be the first sample of the moon that is coming to Earth in the last 40 years, after the US and Russian missions.
This mission is a tribute to the Chinese moon goddess
The Chang’e 5 mission is named after the moon goddess of China. And this is the third time China has landed on the moon, and they even have an active rover on the dark side of the moon.
The Chang’e-5 probe consists of four separate modules working together to bring the rocks back to Earth. These include the orbiter and returner (which were orbiting the moon), the lander, and the ascender (which landed on the moon).
While the rest of the ship comes back to Earth, the lander is still on the moon’s surface
China is not revealing the dates about the re-entry of the Chinese spaceship, but it is said that they might land in the Mongolian desert next week. For now, the orbiter is circling the moon, and then it will take three days to travel 3,83,000 kilometers to the Earth. Then it will “bounce off” Earth’s atmosphere to slow down.
Featured Image Courtesy: Xinhua