China's Chang'e-6 safely returns to Earth with first-ever lunar far side samples

Photo: Wang Sijiang

Chang'e-6 - China's latest leap of moon exploration - has claimed full success, as the returning capsule of the craft, carrying the first batch of lunar samples collected from the far side of the moon in human history, safely touched down in designated landing site in the Siziwang Banner, in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday afternoon at 2:07 pm.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday extended congratulations on the complete success of the Chang'e-6 mission that brought back the world's first samples collected from the moon's far side. It marks "another landmark achievement in China's endeavor to become a space and sci-tech power," Xi noted. 

In the congratulatory letter, Xi also stressed the hope to strengthen international exchange and cooperation in carrying out major aerospace engineering projects including deep-space explorations.

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), as planned, after the necessary ground processing work is completed, the recovered Chang'e-6 returner will be airlifted to Beijing, where the sample containers and payload will be extracted. The CNSA will hold a handover ceremony at an appropriate time to officially transfer the lunar samples to the ground application system. Subsequently, the samples will undergo storage, analysis and related research work.

After successfully completing the Chang'e-6 mission, the Queqiao-2 relay satellite will carry out scientific exploration missions at an appropriate time. It will use its onboard instruments, including an extreme ultraviolet camera, an arrayed neutral atom imager, and an Earth-Moon Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) experiment system, to collect scientific data from the moon and deep space, the CNSA said in a statement sent to the Global Times. 

Stargazers from all over the world have paid close attention to the 53 day-long round trip of Chang'e-6, and applauded Tuesday for the unprecedented feat of it retrieving precious lunar samples from the far side of the moon, while suggesting that these samples would not only help enhance the humanity's understanding of the Earth's natural satellite but also create new opportunities for international cooperation in space studies, including those with the US.

"I do think a successful conclusion to this very complex mission [Chang'e-6] will show that Chang'e-5 was not just a fluke, and that Chinese space engineers really have mastered the challenges of carrying out these very difficult missions far from Earth, it's a real step forward in the maturity of the Chinese space effort," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"The successful execution of the Chang'e-6 mission has achieved breakthroughs in key technologies such as retrograde lunar orbit design and control, rapid intelligent sampling on the lunar far side, and ascent from the lunar far side. These technological advancements lay a foundation for future deep space exploration missions," Kang Guohua, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The mission not only sets a new record for China's lunar exploration program but also has a profound impact on the global aerospace field. Through the Chang'e-6 mission, China has demonstrated its leadership and influence in space exploration, Kang said noting that lunar soil from the far side of the moon holds immense value for scientific research and deep space exploration due to its uniqueness. 

Since no human probe has directly landed on and sampled from the far side, the soil from this area offers a distinct perspective. The South Pole-Aitken Basin is the oldest and deepest large impact basin on the moon, and samples from here can help scientists study the moon's origin and evolution more deeply, potentially providing critical clues about the formation and evolution of the solar system, he said.

Potential of intl collaboration in space

This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's lunar exploration program. China stands ready to continue working with like-minded international partners to explore humanity's common domain of the outer space, realize the shared dream of people around the world to discover more about the moon, and strive to advance the world's common endeavor of peacefully using the outer space, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday, commenting on Chang'e-6's success.

The Chang'e-6 mission hosted four international payloads to the moon, including the European Space Agency (ESA)'s lunar surface ion composition analyzer, France's radon detection instrument, Italy's laser corner reflector, and a CubeSat from Pakistan, the CNSA revealed to the Global Times.

Pakistan's CubeSat, the country's inaugural lunar satellite, has sent back the first images it captured on May 10. It also achieved its goal of "successful separation and obtaining telemetry," marking the smooth completion of Pakistan's first-ever lunar project.

ESA's lunar surface ion composition analyzer, jointly developed with the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully completed seven scientific detections after it started up on June 2, with the total detection time exceeding 3 hours, thus achieving the scheduled goal of detecting the lunar surface for at least 1 hour. This payload conducted negative ion detection on the lunar surface for the first time internationally, and the joint team is currently conducting scientific data analysis.

For the French payload, Philippe Baptiste, chairman of the French National Center for Space Studies, said it would still take some time to get all the data, but they are looking forward to it, as "the last time France was on the moon with an active instrument, it was in 1970," Baptiste was quoted as saying in a CGTN report.

The Chang'e-6 mission and its collection of precious samples from the far side of the moon will create more opportunities for cooperation between China and Western countries in space, according to space observers. And it is highly likely that NASA would again greenlight its researchers to access to these precious samples retrieved by the Chang'e-6 mission, however, the difficulties still lie in the US' domestic legal barriers, they said. 

McDowell said he would be happy to see sharing of data between China and the US. The US space observer pointed out however that "the political winds here in the US are still strongly against allowing any large-scale cooperation."

In a November 29 statement, NASA said it has certified its intent to the US Congress to "allow NASA-funded researchers to apply to the China National Space Administration for access to lunar samples returned to Earth on the Chang'e 5 mission." However, NASA made it clear that this allowance applies specifically to Chang'e 5 mission samples and "the normal prohibition on bilateral activity with (the) PRC (People's Republic of China) on NASA-funded projects remains in place."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the Global Times on June 7 at a regular press conference that China is always open toward space exchanges and cooperation with the US. There are, however, difficulties in China-US space cooperation at the moment, which are caused by US domestic legislation such as the Wolf Amendment that prevents normal exchanges and dialogue between Chinese and US space agencies, Mao said.

In a rarely seen friendly move, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson reportedly sent congratulations to China over the Chinese spacecraft's landing on the lunar surface earlier this month, saying he was impressed with its fourth successful moon landing, the Washington Post reported on US local time Monday. 

"I've been fairly pointed in my comments that we're in a space race with the Chinese, and that they are very good," he said in a recent interview with The Washington Post. "Especially in the last 10 years, they've had a lot of success. They usually say what they mean, and they execute on what they say."

However, the China space hawk continued its narrative of creating a new space race with China, by claiming that despite China's many achievements in space - which include an occupied space station in low Earth orbit and landing a rover on Mars in 2021 - the US remains on track to return astronauts to the lunar surface ahead of its chief rival, according to the report.  

In a key step toward that goal, NASA intends to fly four astronauts around the moon late next year, and then land people on the surface in late 2026 for the first time since the last of the Apollo missions, in 1972.

Despite competition between the US and China, the two countries will have to find a way to coexist on and around the moon, Nelson was quoted as saying.

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Fund-of-Funds to fuel local firms

Fund RM1BIL set aside to invest in innovative highi-growth start-ups, says PM 

Fund of Funds (FOF) Explained: How It Works, Pro & Cons, Example

KUALA LUMPUR: A sum of RM1bil for the “National Fund-of-Funds” will be set up to invest in innovative high-growth Malaysian companies, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“I am pleased to share that Khazanah Nasional Bhd will launch a ‘National Fund-of-Funds’ with an initial RM1bil allocation,” the Prime Minister said when delivering his keynote address at the launch of the inaugural KL20 Summit here yesterday.

He said the setting up of the fund represented the government’s continued commitment to assisting local companies such as those run by bumiputra entrepreneurs, as well as startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in line with Budget 2024 allocations.

ALSO READ: Policy advisory panel to focus on growth and economy

He said the government acknowledged the growing importance of startups in driving technological advancements in the country.

As such, he said the KL20 Summit provided an ideal launchpad for innovative ideas.

“KL20 does not simply represent a single-event summit but marks a clear break from the past, which is a comprehensive effort to catalyse the technology ecosystem,” he said

He added that KL20 would fit strategically into the central governing economic philosophy of the Madani Economic Framework, which is underscored by the principle that economic growth and compatible distribution are in harmony with market forces.

ALSO READ: Elevating the country to be a leading startup destination

“The government is also aiming to centralise investment agencies such as Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (Mavcap) and Penjana Kapital under Khazanah Nasional,” he said.

Anwar also announced the signing of agreements involving 25 entities from various sectors of the startup ecosystem to help create cutting-edge technology ventures in Malaysia.

Among them was the Asean Investment Initiative between Khazanah Nasional, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) and Blue Chip Venture Capital that will invest RM3bil in the South-East Asian and Malaysian ecosystems.

ALSO READ: KL20 Summit 2024 to attract high-quality investments - PM

He also said that 12 international venture capital firms would be setting up offices in Kuala Lumpur, which will help Malaysian startups be discovered and nurtured to be globally successful.

On semiconductors, he said the nation’s substantial hold on the backend had made it conducive to pursue high-value front-end work, primarily in the integrated circuit (IC) design category.

“I am pleased to announce the largest IC Design Park in South-East Asia, which will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm.

“This is done with the backing of the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec), with the Selangor state government, and this is proof that momentum is already being built on the ground,” he said.

ALSO READ: Making the Malaysian startup pitch

He added that the country was positioning itself as one of the leaders in semiconductors, clean energy, agritech and Islamic fintech.

To make Malaysia a true gateway to major economies, Anwar said a city-to-city connection between Kuala Lumpur and Hangzhou would be established so that capital, talent and market access would no longer be a barrier.

Earlier in his speech, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the goal of the KL20 Action Plan was to bring the top 20 startups in the world into the country.

This, he said, would be done through the immediate introduction of several measures.

He said the move was aimed at accelerating the critical areas of a startup ecosystem here.

“The ambition is for Malaysia to be the choice destination for early-stage and growth capital and to be the centre for world-class entrepreneurs and skilled talent,” said Rafizi.

He added that it was also the goal for the nation to be the home for leading startups in the world.

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‘Education needs to level up’; Closing gaps in maths and science

THE world is seeing a digital revolution that is advancing technology beyond human skills.

To turn things around, the education system needs to put in a place the kind of learning that will move people ahead of the technology of modern times.

That, said Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher, is about knowledge, skills and mindsets.

In the era of generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT, he said teaching the young how to frame questions, navigate ambiguity and manage complexities, instead of teaching them the answers, is of utmost importance.

“We know how to educate second-class robots – people who are good at repeating what we tell them but the kinds of things that are easy to teach and easy to test have also become easy to digitise and automate,” he said.

Drawing on an OECD study that tracked the extent to which AI could surpass typically gifted humans in education, he noted a clear improvement in the performance of generative AI in just one year in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (see infographic).

“You can see AI is advancing at a breathtaking pace. We need to accelerate our progress,” warned Schleicher, who leads the team that oversees PISA.

Creativity, he asserted, is one of the most central resources in the 21st century that education can foster to help people grow in their competence.

“If you want your kids to be creative, you have to give them space to experiment. When they experiment, they take risks and if they take risks, they make mistakes. If our education systems do not help students learn from and with mistakes, they are not going to be so creative,” he said.

Citing the teaching of science as an example, he said making students believe in scientific paradigms, giving them numerous exercises to rehearse, and testing them on whether they remember the answers have nothing to do with scientific enquiry.

“Scientific enquiry is not about reproducing the established wisdom of our times but about questioning it. And that is true for many subjects,” he said.

He added that rather than teaching students knowledge like physics and chemistry, educators should put more emphasis on helping them to think like scientists.

“That is going to be useful and sustainable. If we just teach fixed knowledge and skills, the risk they are going to become obsolete is quite high,” he said.

Speaking at the Educational Publishers Forum (EPF) Malaysia 2023, held virtually on Nov 22 last year, he added that learning literacy is no longer about extracting knowledge from prefabricated text; it’s about constructing knowledge.

“Instead of repeating and reproducing what you learn, you need to learn to question what you see, and triangulate different information. They are very different skill sets,” he said.

He added that students must have the capacity to see the world in different lenses and appreciate different ways of thinking.

Pointing to the massive rise in the “wisdom of the crowds”, where a large number of people put their ideas into the mix on social media, Schleicher also emphasised the need for students to be equipped with digital navigation skills.

“In many countries, the majority of 15-year-olds are born into this digital world but they are not digital natives.

“You will not become automatically skilled – education needs to invest in this,” he said, adding that the ability to distinguish fact from opinion and integrate different information sources is the kind of skill needed to make use of the digital world.

Nurturing a growth mindset, according to Schleicher, is another focal point of importance to help students forge ahead.

“The mindset we create among students is an incredibly important predictor for their willingness to engage with new problems and address challenges.

“Education systems that develop students’ growth mindset tend to also excel academically, while those that have a fixed mindset typically show a lower academic performance.

“If students have a growth mindset, it’s a mirror of how they have been educated,” he said.

Students with a growth mindset, he explained, know that if they invest effort, they can overcome barriers whereas those without it believe that success is largely about the intelligence they inherited and there is nothing they can do about it.

In fact, he continued, the growth mindset is needed at every level of the education system, including policymakers, teachers and publishers.

He added that one’s willingness and capacity to learn, unlearn and relearn will also be essential.

“In today’s world, you have to learn for jobs that have not yet been created, to use technologies that have not yet been invented, and to solve social problems you cannot yet imagine.

“So, having a willingness to engage in the novelty, and to give up some of the favourite beliefs, knowledge and skills in order to acquire new ones, is absolutely essential – that’s a real test for education today,” he said.

Themed “Developing 21st Century Students: Policies, Strategies & Educational Materials”, the EPF Malaysia 2023 was organised by the Malaysian Book Publishers Association.

Calls for edu reforms in M’sia

Less volume, more depth

Malaysia has put very interesting reforms on track but there can be less emphasis on the volume of content – Malaysian students learn a lot of things. Instead, place more emphasis on depth and diverse ways of thinking. That is the most important transition the modern world will require for students in Malaysia.

Learning environments can be more student-oriented and teachers can go beyond the instructional component and become better coaches and mentors to their students – that’s very important to mediate the impact of social background.

Engage teachers in more collaborative professional development. You need to get teachers in a space where they also become lifelong learners.

– OECD director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher

Strengthen school curriculum

The curriculum is by far the most important ingredient in determining what students are able to do at the end of their schooling.

A fantastic teacher with a terrible curriculum is going to have a hard time ending up with successful students. And a teacher who is struggling is going to be supported by a terrific curriculum, so all teachers benefit from a strong curriculum. It’s something that policymakers should be reviewing on a regular basis. There is good data worldwide. We’re leaving a lot of good ideas on the table by not paying attention to what other folks are doing.

– University of Virginia, United States, psychology professor Dr Daniel Willingham

Ensure quality content

You can have highly-trained teachers teaching in classrooms with the most up-to-date devices and software but if the content being taught is second-rate or worse, then students will not get the education they deserve and your country will be left behind. If we want to reduce inequalities, then high-quality resources produced by professional educational publishers and adapted to deliver the government’s curriculum is what will guarantee progress.

– International Publishers Association president Karine Pansa Focus on leadership

We need to review our curriculum assessment and pedagogical approach. First, the Education Ministry (MoE) should collaborate with stakeholders to reassess the curriculum. Second, it should redefine the role of teachers. Our teachers are imparting knowledge that can be obtained online. Allow teachers to learn, unlearn, relearn, and be mentors and facilitators. The focus should be on leadership as stated in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013-2025.

– Malaysian Association for Education president Datuk Satinah Syed Saleh 

  Decentralise the MoE 

 We need to decentralise the MoE. All schools should have a board of advisers. We have intelligent people in the community who can be advisers. This is about community-centred, rather than standardised, education. We need to do away with the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exams. Instead, if students want to enrol into university, they can take a certain kind of exam for the course they want to pursue. Our mindset is industry-based. We need to move away from teaching people to be nuts and bolts. Learning should be lifelong. Universities need to redefine the significance of diplomas and degrees. The world has changed.

–

UCSI University architecture professor Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

Address shortfall

Our National Education Philosophy is clear about producing holistic students in four aspects: intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual. But how well we are implementing this in classrooms is something we need to address. The MoE needs to engage regularly with stakeholders.

We have to prioritise our initiatives. For example, we are not spending enough on providing professional development opportunities for teachers, even though it was recognised in the MEB.

– University of Cyberjaya and Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur adjunct professor Prof Datuk Dr Rajendran Nagappan

Replicate trust school model

The Trust Schools Programme, launched by Yayasan Amir and the MoE in 2010, came up with a model to transform teacher pedagogy skills underpinned by cultural change. It entails the schools shifting from a teacher-centric to a student-centric approach, and from teaching to the test to creating a positive learning environment that unleashes the potential of each student.

We have 94 trust schools across Malaysia, involving at least 10,000 teachers and benefiting more than 200,000 students. The MoE has the intention to replicate the model but hasn’t caught up yet.

- LeapEd Services chair Shahnaz Al-Sadat Abdul Mohsein

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Closing gaps in maths and science

TO improve performance in mathematics and science, educators and learning materials need to transmit excitement of the subjects to students.

Referring to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) 2019, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) executive director Dr Dirk Hastedt said students who liked the subjects scored significantly higher than those who didn’t.

In fact, the over 100-score point difference translated to more than a year of learning.

“It’s very important that students like learning these subjects,” he stressed, adding that learning materials should be designed to engage both boys and girls to narrow the gender gap seen in TIMMS 2019, where girls outperformed boys in many countries, including Malaysia.

Hastedt also said students’ self-confidence in mathematics and science strongly correlates with their achievement, with more than a year of learning separating those with confidence from those without in the same study.

“What we can see from our data is that learning materials need to be targeted and supported by positive attitude to these subjects.

“We need students with a ‘can do’ attitude,” he asserted.

He added that it is important to have prerequisites such as language mastery.

“From our Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), we can see an increasing percentage of boys struggling with language.

“If you don’t have language capacity, it’s more difficult to learn mathematics and science,” he said.

Other strategies Hastedt recommended for improving student performance include incorporating software tools in learning and providing support for underprivileged students.

“Some students may understand better when using learning software managed by teachers. This enables more individualised learning,” he said.

However, he emphasised that this requires not only the availability of computers but also the presence of software administrators and technical support in schools – more importantly, teachers trained in using digital devices efficiently in teaching.

He also said digitalised instruction requires more than just transferring paper materials into a digital format.

“New digital materials that are engaging and helpful need to be developed. It requires a support structure and teachers need to be trained to use the software and help students learn in a digital environment,” he said.

Hastedt added that it’s important to move international assessments to the same digital format used in teaching and learning.

Cognisant of the need to keep up with the times, the IEA, which conducts TIMMS, introduced its fully digitised version, eTIMMS, in its 2023 cycle, he shared.

“We have to recognise that students today engage with the digital world through digital media and mobile phones. They find this more engaging than traditional methods. We have to keep up with the interest,” he said.

Hastedt, however, cautioned that digitalisation could exacerbate gaps in learning.

Citing a study on digital competencies, he said the gaps between different socioeconomic groups are huge – “larger than for reading, mathematics and science”.

“Digital competencies are not always well covered in countries’ curricula, and teachers sometimes don’t teach these competencies,’ he said.

A focus, he emphasised, is needed on the most vulnerable student groups as early as possible, starting from kindergarten or the early grades.

Citing a TIMMS study that highlights a difference of more than one year of learning between students from disadvantaged and affluent backgrounds, he noted that in Malaysia and many other countries, students with challenging socioeconomic backgrounds struggle more often with mathematics and science achievements.

“A focus on supporting students from lower social economic background would not only benefit these students, but also enhance the overall achievement of all students due to the positive peer effect.

“And if teachers can concentrate on all students because of a good level of knowledge, that benefits all students in the country,” he concluded.

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China has built an artificial moon that simulates low-gravity conditions on Earth

China has built an artificial Moon that simulates low gravity conditions, the first of its kind. The facility is expected to play an important role in China's future Moon missions.

 

China has built a research facility that simulates the low-gravity environment on the moon – and it was inspired by experiments using magnets to levitate a frog.

` The facility could provide valuable research for China’s lunar exploration activities, according to scientists involved in the project. Located in the eastern city of Xuzhou, in Jiangsu province, the simulator is expected to be officially launched in the coming months.

` Lead scientist Li Ruilin, from the China University of Mining and Technology, said it was the “first of its kind in the world” and would take lunar simulation to a whole new level.

` 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 simulator can make gravity “disappear”, Li said in an interview on Tuesday. While low gravity can be achieved in an aircraft or a drop tower, it is momentary. Li said in the simulator that effect can “last as long as you want”.

` At its heart is a vacuum chamber that houses a mini “moon” measuring 60cm (about 2 feet) in diameter. The artificial lunar landscape is made up of rocks and dust that are as light as those on the moon – where gravity is about one-sixth as powerful as the gravity on Earth – partly because they are supported by a magnetic field.

` When the field is strong enough it can magnetise and levitate things – from a living frog to a chestnut – against the gravitational force.

` “Some experiments such as an impact test need just a few seconds [in the simulator],” said Li, from the university’s state key laboratory for geomechanics and deep underground engineering. “But others such as creep testing can take several days.” 

 

 

A vacuum chamber at the heart of the simulator houses an artificial moon measuring 60cm (about 2 feet) in diameter. Photo: Li Ruilin, China University of Mining and Technology

` Li said the idea came from Russian-born physicist Andre Geim’s experiments to levitate a frog with a magnet – for which he won an Ig Nobel Prize, celebrating science that “first makes people laugh, and then think”, in 2000. Geim, from the University of Manchester in England, also won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for his work on graphene.

` Responding to an approach by the South China Morning Post, Geim said he was pleased that his “purely education experiments on diamagnetic levitation led to applications in space exploration”.

` “Magnetic levitation is certainly not the same as antigravity, but there is a variety of situations where mimicking microgravity by magnetic fields could be invaluable to expect the unexpected in space research.”

` China is seeking to take the lead in a new international space race with the United States. That includes its lunar exploration programme – named after the mythical moon goddess Chang’e – whose recent missions include landing a rover on the far side of the moon in 2019, and in 2020 bringing rock samples back to Earth for the first time in 44 years.

` Next, China wants to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, and to set up a joint  lunar research base with Russia. Chinese space authorities said last month that construction of the research station  could start as soon as 2027 – years ahead of schedule – amid concerns over US-led moves to set the rules for future lunar activities. Nasa also plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024 under its Artemis programme.

` The Xuzhou facility is expected to play a key role in China’s future lunar missions, including building infrastructure on the moon, Li said.

` It will allow scientists to test equipment – and potentially prevent costly miscalculations – in a simulation of the extreme lunar environment, where rocks and dust can behave in a completely different way than they do on Earth. There is no atmosphere on the moon, the temperature can change quickly and dramatically, and in low gravity, soil particles are more loosely bound to each other.

` The Chang’e 5 mission returned with rock samples in December 2020, but there were not as many as planned because the drill hit unexpected resistance. Previous missions by the Soviet Union and US have had similar issues.

` Experiments conducted on a smaller prototype simulator suggested drill resistance on the moon could be much higher than predicted by theoretical models, according to a paper by the Xuzhou team published in the Journal of China University of Mining and Technology last week.

` According to Li, the moon simulator could also be used to test whether new technology such as 3D printing could be used to build structures on the lunar surface. It could help assess whether a permanent human settlement could be built there, including issues like how well the surface traps heat, he said.

` “Some experiments conducted in the simulated environment can also give us some important clues, such as where to look for water trapped under the surface,” he said.

` Simulating the harsh lunar environment on Earth was no easy task – the magnetic force needed is so strong that it could tear apart components like superconducting wires. Add to that the many metallic components needed for the vacuum chamber which do not function properly near a powerful magnet.

` Li said the team came up with a number of technical innovations to get around these challenges, including simulating lunar dust that could float more easily in the magnetic field, and replacing steel with aluminium in some of the key components.

` He said the Chinese facility would be open to researchers from around the world.

` And that includes UK-based physicist Geim. “We definitely welcome Professor Geim to come and share more great ideas with us,” Li said.

`

More from South China Morning Post:

• China’s Chang’e 5 lunar probe finds first on-site evidence of water on moon’s surface
• China speeds up moon base plan in space race against the US
• Scientists in China call for Chang’e 5 moon mission research to be published in Chinese to make it accessible at home
• Chinese, French scientists to work together on lunar rock samples
• China is working on a way to extract oxygen from the moon’s surface

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2022.

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