The matter does not stop at the limits of scientific research, and the Moon is an ideal starting point for future Mars missions. Instead, the world’s governments – especially China, India and the United States – consider the Moon as a possibility. Source of resources.
An international team of researchers led by scientists from China has announced that they have managed to create a new map of a part of the Moon that has reached a depth of 300 meters, helping to reveal the origin of Earth’s closest neighbours.
To come up with this data, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Plants, the team relied on data from the Chinese spacecraft Song 4 orbiting the moon’s far surface.
The rover is equipped with a technology called “Moon Penetrating Radar” that sends radio signals deep into the Moon’s surface and then allows scientists on Earth to pick up the echoes to pinpoint where the whales are. For example, oceans.
Creation of the Moon
Scientists were able to use those echoes bouncing off subsurface rock formations to map beneath the moon’s surface, and the device was used in 2020 to map 40 meters below the moon’s surface. .
According to the study, at a depth of 300 meters below the surface of the moon, several layers of the moon, broken rocks, some dust and some soil appeared, and the researchers found evidence of hidden craters on the surface of the moon. as well as lava layers.
These results are consistent with the scientists’ preferred theory of how the Moon was formed, which posits that it formed about 4.5 billion years ago when a large planet collided with Earth (called Thea), ejecting part of it. Material from this explosion in space eventually moves into an orbit around the Earth, becoming the Moon as we know it.
Different task
Chang’e 4 was launched to the Moon on December 7, 2018. The landing site was the lunar van Karman crater northwest of the Antarctic Aitken Basin, the first manned vehicle to land on the far side of the Moon.
From this point, the Moon blocks direct radio communication with Earth, so a communications satellite is used that orbits above the Moon and transmits data from the spacecraft to Earth.
The rover aims to measure the chemical composition of lunar rocks and soil, measure the lunar surface temperature, and conduct low-frequency radio astronomy observations and monitor cosmic rays and the solar corona using a radio telescope on its surface.
In this context, Chang’e 4 is only one step in a long-term plan that will make China a leader in space exploration in general, and the Moon in particular. It also intends to establish a permanent station. The Chinese government has already started its rounds to invite some countries like Pakistan and Russia to participate in this important mission.
Economic competition and other matters
The matter does not stop at the limits of scientific research, and the Moon is an ideal starting point for future Mars missions. Instead, the world’s governments – especially China, India and the United States – consider the Moon as a possibility. Source of resources.
Scientists have discovered that the moon’s soil is rich in elements that can be used in the energy and electronic chip industries, as well as water ice, much more than previously thought, which has already encouraged many countries to start exploring.
In addition, China aspires to be a serious competitor at the level of the United States on the map of space science and technology, and although it has not yet reached that level, the acceleration of its space program is indicative of the scale. This day may be approaching.
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