China will mine new minerals on the Moon

China has just approved a plan to conduct three unmanned flights to the Moon, after discovering a new mineral on the Moon that could be a future source of energy, Politico reported on September 11.

The space race between China and the US is accelerating after China's National Space Administration (CNSA) approved the launch of three orbiters to the Moon over the next 10 years, CNSA announced on September 10. . This information was first reported by Bloomberg. According to the Chinese newspaper Global Times, the announcement comes a day after China became the third country in the world to discover a new lunar mineral, which it calls Changesite-(Y).

China's Chang'e-5 probe takes samples from the Moon in 2020.

China's Chang'e-5 spacecraft sampled the Moon in 2020. The Global Times describes it as a 'column-shaped phosphate mineral' found in the Moon's rock grains. This mineral contains helium-3, which could be a future source of energy.

The discovery could increase pressure on the US to step up efforts after the launch of its Artemis I spacecraft to the Moon was delayed for a second time. Mining on the Moon could become the next source of tension between the countries as the US Space Agency (NASA) is also probing the Moon's south pole, where China plans to build a station. joint research with Russia. Recently, China accelerated its space exploration efforts by building a space station, launching several sample-collecting missions on the Moon, and sending the Zhu Rong probe to Mars earlier this year to compete. compete with NASA.

12 people set foot on the Moon

According to NASA's website, the United States remains the only country to send astronauts to the Moon, with the last landing nearly 50 years ago during the Apollo 17 mission. America's Apollo 11 was the first spacecraft to carry Samples from other planets returned to Earth in July 1969, with about 22 kilograms of material from the Moon's surface.

Of the 12 people who have ever set foot on the Moon, the first is Neil Armstrong and the last is Gene Cernan. The Moon landings took place from July 1969 to December 1972 within the framework of the US Apollo program. All astronauts are US nationals.

Alan Shepard was the oldest person to ever set foot on the Moon, at 47 years and 80 days. Charles Duke was the youngest, at 36 years and 201 days. Most of the astronauts at the time were active-duty military personnel while serving NASA; the few exceptions are civilian NASA astronauts (though possibly former military personnel).