Latest news with #Chang'e-7
The Star
08-05-2025
- Science
- The Star
China fires up powerful radar to search for lunar ice that can make or break moon race
Water ice is likely to exist at the moon's south pole, but it would be fragmented, scattered and buried deep beneath the surface, posing significant challenges for detection and extraction, according to a new study by Chinese researchers. Using powerful Earth-based instruments, including the world's largest radio telescope and one of the most advanced radar systems, the team estimated that ice made up no more than 6 per cent of the material within the top 10 metres (33 feet) of lunar soil in the region. The ice was thought to exist as metre-sized chunks buried 5-7 metres underground in the moon's most promising 'cold traps', known as permanently shadowed regions. Smaller, isolated patches might also lie near the surface, the team wrote in the latest issue of the Chinese journal, Science Bulletin. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. The findings, the researchers wrote, could help in the selection of landing sites for future lunar missions and inform the design of the proposed China-led research base on the moon. Hu Sen, a planetary geochemist at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing, called the work 'impressive'. He said that using China's newly built incoherent scatter radar in Sanya (SYISR) alongside the FAST telescope to search for water ice was a 'really creative approach'. While Hu was not involved in the research, he noted that the results aligned with previous impact experiment findings and added new evidence that water ice existed on the moon. 'The study also opened a new pathway to investigate water abundances on the moon,' he said. So far, no liquid water has been found on the moon. 'What we do know is that some water is bound within the lunar soil as 'structural water', and some is preserved as ice in cold traps inside permanently shadowed regions,' Hu said on Wednesday. But the moon's surface is an unforgiving environment, marked by a high vacuum, strong radiation and extreme temperature swings. 'Before anyone can actually make use of that water, we need to understand where it comes from, how it's distributed and how it's stored,' he said. One of China's key science goals for the coming Chang'e-7 mission, set to launch next year, is to determine the amount, origin and physical state of water ice at the moon's south pole. The mission is expected to significantly advance understanding of lunar water, he said. Still, the topic remains contentious. There is no conclusive proof that water ice exists in usable quantities on the moon. Alfred McEwen, a planetary geologist at Arizona State University, said he believed there was 'extremely little' water on the moon. 'All the talk about what a valuable resource this is seems like baloney to me,' he said on Tuesday. However, planetary geologist Clive Neal at the University of Notre Dame in the United States suggested that the actual amount of water ice at the lunar south pole could be higher than what this study detected. Radar only covered limited areas, mostly crater slopes, he said. 'It is expected that the water ice would be in the bottom of the craters,' he said, adding that the areas visible to the radar were also affected by Earthshine, which could cause any surface ice to evaporate. In recent years, researchers have paired high-powered, large-aperture incoherent scatter radars – typically used to study the ionosphere – with large radio telescopes to capture imagery of the moon's surface, according to the paper's lead author Li Mingyuan, of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics. For instance, the Arecibo planetary radar system in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia have jointly produced lunar polar images with resolution ranging from 20 to 150 metres, according to Li. Building on that approach, Li and his team used the Sanya incoherent scatter radar and the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) to carry out a ground-based radar imaging experiment focused on the moon's south pole. The SYISR radar, with its wide beam, was used to track the moon's centre of mass and scan its entire near side. Meanwhile, the narrower beam of the FAST telescope focused specifically on the south pole region to receive radar echoes, he said. Thanks to FAST's high sensitivity, the team could produce radar images covering latitudes of 84 and 90 degrees south, at a resolution of about 500 metres by 1.2km. Li noted that their analysis assumed the radar signals were caused by water ice. However, one of the key parameters – the circular polarisation ratio, which measures how much of the radar signal bounces back in a rotated form – can also be elevated by surface roughness or buried rocks, making it difficult to distinguish ice from non-ice terrain. The study offered a preliminary estimate, Li said, and further work required integrating data from multiple instruments or radar frequencies to improve the accuracy of identifying water ice. More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
Borneo Post
25-04-2025
- Business
- Borneo Post
Cooperation with China to boost Thailand's space industry development
Photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows the ground station of GISTDA in Sriracha, Chonburi Province, Thailand. – Xinhua photo BANGKOK (April 26): Aerospace-related elements can be seen everywhere in Thailand's Space Krenovation Park, located in Sriracha, Chonburi Province, about two hours' drive southeast from Bangkok. Research and development institutions such as the Space Technology Center and the National Satellite Manufacturing Center from Geo-informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) are located in the park. In front of the exhibition area of THEOS-2, Thailand's low earth orbit satellite, Atipat Wattanuntachai, the mechanical lead engineer of the Satellite Manufacturing Division of the GISTDA, pointed to a vibration testing equipment and said that the machine is from China and can evaluate the performance and reliability of the satellite through vibration testing, providing guarantee for the launch and operation of the satellite. 'Thanks to China's support for Thailand in the space technology field, the cooperation with China has promoted the rapid development of Thailand's space industry,' Atipat said. Atipat speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Sriracha, Chonburi Province, Thailand on April 8, 2025. – Xinhua photo The GISTDA is a national public agency affiliated to Thailand's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. The purpose of the agency is to promote the development of aerospace and geographic information technology in Thailand, as well as satellite development and satellite remote sensing image services. Phee Choosri, deputy executive director of the GISTDA, said that China is an important partner in the fields of Thailand's aerospace technology and geographic information. Currently, the GISTDA has collaborated with more than 10 Chinese organisations in these fields, covering from applied research to upstream industries and even space exploration. Last year, China and Thailand signed two memorandums of understanding to cooperate on exploration and peaceful use of outer space as well as on an international lunar research station. The lunar sample from China's Chang'e-5 mission was exhibited in Thailand for the first time in July last year, attracting a large number of Thai people to visit. And China's Chang'e-7 lunar exploration mission will have onboard a Thailand-developed global space weather monitoring device, which is designed to observe cosmic radiation and space weather from the lunar perspective. 'Space exploration is a mission that Thailand attaches great importance to. And the cooperation with China in Chang'e mission provides Thailand with the opportunity to get involved in high-tech projects, promoting the development of Thai space technology, and cultivating Thai talents in the fields of aerospace technology,' said Phee. The cooperation between China and Thailand in space technology has been continuously deepening in recent years. China successfully retrieved its first reusable and returnable test satellite, Shijian-19 in October last year, and Shijian-19 has carried payloads from foreign countries including Thailand and Pakistan. Photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows the exhibition hall of GISTDA in Sriracha, Chonburi Province, Thailand. – Xinhua photo Phee said that China's Shijian-19 provided Thailand with the payloads opportunity to send Thai high-quality rice seeds into space, with the goal of cultivating rice that can withstand harsh environments, contributing to national food security and the future development of the space economy. Talent cultivation is also a focus of the cooperation in aerospace technology between China and Thailand. The GISTDA has worked with China's Wuhan University to offer a master degree programme in geographic information science. Thailand is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organisation (APSCO), headquartered in Beijing, which has carried out various exchange activities in space technology, including satellite development and human resource development. Atipat said the greatest beneficiaries of these projects are the young generation who have space dreams. Through cooperation and exchanges or further studies in China, these young Thai people have learned cutting-edge technologies in the aerospace field, further igniting their space dreams. Phee speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Bangkok, Thailand on April 8, 2025. – Xinhua photo 'China is one of the world's leading aerospace powers and an important promoter of the global space economy and industry. 'Deepening cooperation with China in the aerospace field will bring many important opportunities and benefits to Thailand,' said Phee. He hoped Thailand's space technology can reach the world's leading level and occupy a place in the future space economy. – Xinhua China space technology Thailand Xinhua
NBC News
25-04-2025
- Science
- NBC News
China to lend moon rocks to NASA-funded U.S. universities
SHANGHAI — China 's national space agency said Thursday that it would let scientists from the U.S. and allied countries analyze rocks it retrieved from the moon, Beijing's latest move to increase the international influence of its lunar exploration program. The announcement highlights how U.S.-China cooperation in some areas like space has not completely ended, despite tensions between the two countries over geopolitics and tariffs. Two U.S. universities that receive NASA funding, Brown University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, are among the seven institutions that have been allowed to borrow lunar samples China retrieved from the moon in 2020. The remaining authorized institutions are from Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Pakistan. With its uncrewed Chang'e-5 mission in 2020 China became only the third country to collect rocks from the lunar surface, joining the Soviet Union and the United States, which last went to the moon and retrieved samples in 1972. China's subsequent uncrewed Chang'e-6 mission, completed in June last year, made it the first country to bring back rocks from the side of the moon facing away from Earth. U.S.-China cooperation on space has long been deterred by a 2011 U.S. law that seeks to ensure American technologies stay out of the hands of China's military. Under the law, NASA must work with the FBI to certify to Congress that any such talks with China would not threaten U.S. national security. NASA head Bill Nelson told Reuters in October that NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) were discussing the terms of Beijing's loan agreement for the Chang'e-5 moon rocks after he assured American lawmakers that the talks would not pose national security concerns. Four U.S. universities had applied for access to the Chang'e-5 samples, Nelson said then, adding that he thought the talks would end with China agreeing to provide access to samples. However, he said he expected NASA to have to work with the FBI for another national security certification to enable any moon rock deliveries to U.S. universities for research. Beijing hopes to use its space prowess to forge closer political ties with close partners and U.S. allies alike. 'It seems the United States is quite closed off now despite being open in the past, while we were closed off in the past and are now open; this is because of the increase in our nation's overall strength and consequent rise in self-confidence,' Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, told Reuters in an interview Wednesday, adding that growing U.S. 'isolationism' would not help its space ambitions. A CNSA official said Wednesday that the Chang'e-4 and 6 missions had four international payloads, while the Chang'e-7 mission next year will have six international payloads and 'cooperation with 10 countries' is being discussed for the subsequent Chang'e-8 mission. China hopes Chang'e-7 and 8 can help provide the information it needs to decide where and how to build a permanent manned lunar base by 2035.
India Today
25-04-2025
- Politics
- India Today
China to lend moon rocks to Nasa-funded US universities
China's national space agency announced on Thursday it would let scientists from the U.S. and allied countries analyse rocks it retrieved from the moon, Beijing's latest move to increase the international influence of its lunar exploration announcement highlights how U.S.-China cooperation in some areas like space has not completely ended, despite tensions between the two countries over geopolitics and U.S. universities that receive Nasa funding, Brown University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, are among the seven institutions that have been allowed to borrow lunar samples China retrieved from the moon in 2020. The remaining authorised institutions are from Japan, France, Germany, Britain, and its uncrewed Chang'e-5 mission in 2020 China became only the third country to collect rocks from the lunar surface, joining the Soviet Union and the United States, which last went to the moon and retrieved samples in subsequent uncrewed Chang'e-6 mission, completed in June last year, made it the first country to bring back rocks from the side of the moon facing away from Earth.U.S.-China cooperation on space has long been deterred by a 2011 U.S. law that seeks to ensure American technologies stay out of the hands of China's military. Under the law, Nasa must work with the FBI to certify to Congress that any such talks with China would not threaten U.S. national head Bill Nelson told Reuters in October that Nasa and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) were discussing the terms of Beijing's loan agreement for the Chang'e-5 moon rocks after he assured American lawmakers that the talks would not pose national security U.S. universities had applied for access to the Chang'e-5 samples, Nelson said then, adding he thought the talks would end with China agreeing to provide access to he said he expects Nasa to have to work with the FBI for another national security certification to enable any moon rock deliveries to U.S. universities for research. Beijing hopes to use its space prowess to forge closer political ties with close partners and U.S. allies alike. (Photo: CNSA) Beijing hopes to use its space prowess to forge closer political ties with close partners and U.S. allies alike."It seems the United States is quite closed off now despite being open in the past, while we were closed off in the past and are now open; this is because of the increase in our nation's overall strength and consequent rise in self-confidence," Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration programme, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, adding that growing U.S. "isolationism" would not help its space CNSA official said on Wednesday the Chang'e-4 and 6 missions had four international payloads, while the Chang'e-7 mission next year will have six international payloads and "cooperation with 10 countries" is being discussed for the subsequent Chang'e-8 hopes Chang'e-7 and 8 can help provide the information it needs to decide where and how to build a permanent manned lunar base by Reel
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
China to lend moon rocks to NASA-funded US universities
By Eduardo Baptista SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's national space agency announced on Thursday it would let scientists from the U.S. and allied countries analyse rocks it retrieved from the moon, Beijing's latest move to increase the international influence of its lunar exploration programme. The announcement highlights how U.S.-China cooperation in some areas like space has not completely ended, despite tensions between the two countries over geopolitics and tariffs. Two U.S. universities that receive NASA funding, Brown University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, are among the seven institutions that have been allowed to borrow lunar samples China retrieved from the moon in 2020. The remaining authorised institutions are from Japan, France, Germany, Britain, and Pakistan. With its uncrewed Chang'e-5 mission in 2020 China became only the third country to collect rocks from the lunar surface, joining the Soviet Union and the United States, which last went to the moon and retrieved samples in 1972. China's subsequent uncrewed Chang'e-6 mission, completed in June last year, made it the first country to bring back rocks from the side of the moon facing away from Earth. U.S.-China cooperation on space has long been deterred by a 2011 U.S. law that seeks to ensure American technologies stay out of the hands of China's military. Under the law, NASA must work with the FBI to certify to Congress that any such talks with China would not threaten U.S. national security. NASA head Bill Nelson told Reuters in October that NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) were discussing the terms of Beijing's loan agreement for the Chang'e-5 moon rocks after he assured American lawmakers that the talks would not pose national security concerns. Four U.S. universities had applied for access to the Chang'e-5 samples, Nelson said then, adding he thought the talks would end with China agreeing to provide access to samples. However, he said he expects NASA to have to work with the FBI for another national security certification to enable any moon rock deliveries to U.S. universities for research. Beijing hopes to use its space prowess to forge closer political ties with close partners and U.S. allies alike. "It seems the United States is quite closed off now despite being open in the past, while we were closed off in the past and are now open; this is because of the increase in our nation's overall strength and consequent rise in self-confidence," Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration programme, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, adding that growing U.S. "isolationism" would not help its space ambitions. A CNSA official said on Wednesday the Chang'e-4 and 6 missions had four international payloads, while the Chang'e-7 mission next year will have six international payloads and "cooperation with 10 countries" is being discussed for the subsequent Chang'e-8 mission. China hopes Chang'e-7 and 8 can help provide the information it needs to decide where and how to build a permanent manned lunar base by 2035.
