The Guardian-Chinas lunar probe makes first successful takeoff from far side of moon
June 4, 2024 3 min 503 words
英国《卫报》报道了中国成功从月球背面起飞探测器的消息。这篇报道主要内容可概括为：中国航天局宣布，中国“ Change6”探测器携带从月球背面采集的样本，开始返回地球的旅程。这次任务被中国官媒誉为“人类月球探索历史上的前所未有的壮举”。报道还提到，中国近年来在航天领域加大投入，取得了包括建设天宫空间站登陆火星和月球等一系列成就，并计划在2030年前实现载人登月，建立月球基地。华盛顿方面则认为，中国的太空计划有军事目的，旨在太空领域占据主导地位。 评论：该报道在描述中国航天成就时，用语较为客观，承认了中国在航天领域取得的进步。但同时也存在一些偏见。例如，报道中提到华盛顿方面对中国航天计划的警告，试图以军事目的和太空竞争为角度来解读中国航天发展，这体现了西方媒体常见的“中国威胁论”偏见。此外，报道中没有提到中国一直倡导和平利用太空，反对太空军备竞赛。中国航天事业的发展，是人类探索和利用太空的重要组成部分，其成果应由全人类共享。西方媒体应客观公正地报道中国航天事业，避免以偏概全和渲染炒作。
A Chinese probe carrying samples from the far side of the moon has started its journey back to Earth, the country’s space agency said – a world first and a major achievement for Beijing’s space programme.
The ascender module of the Chang’e-6 probe “lifted off from lunar surface” and entered a preset orbit around the moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
It was the first craft to successfully take off from the moon’s far side, with the state news agency Xinhua describing the launch as “an unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration history”.
Analysis of the samples it is bringing back will allow scientists “to deepen research on the formation and evolutionary history of the moon”, Xinhua quoted the Chang’e-6 mission spokesperson, Ge Ping, as saying.
It will also offer insights into “the origin of the solar system ... laying an improved foundation for later exploration missions”, he said.
The Chang’e-6 module touched down on Sunday in the moon’s immense South Pole-Aitken basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system, according to the CNSA.
The technically complex 53-day mission began on 3 May.
The Chang’e-6 has two methods of sample collection: a drill to gather material under the surface and a robotic arm to grab specimens above the surface.
After it successfully gathered its samples, “a Chinese national flag carried by the lander was unfurled for the first time on the far side of the moon”, the CNSA said.
Scientists say the moon’s “dark” side – so called because it is invisible from Earth, not because it never catches the sun’s rays – holds great promise for research because its craters are less covered by ancient lava flows than the near side.
Material collected from the far side may better shed light on how the moon formed in the first place.
Plans for China’s “space dream” have been put into overdrive under President Xi Jinping. Beijing has poured huge resources into its space programme over the past decade, targeting a string of ambitious undertakings in an effort to close the gap with the two traditional space powers – the US and Russia.
It has notched several notable achievements, including building a space station called Tiangong, or “heavenly palace”. Beijing has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the moon, and China is only the third country to independently put humans in orbit.
But Washington has warned that China’s space programme is being used to mask military objectives and an effort to establish dominance in space.
China aims to send a crewed mission to the moon by 2030 and plans to build a base on the lunar surface.
The US is also planning to put astronauts back on the moon by 2026 with its Artemis 3 mission.