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Holly Chik

China’s space agency has agreed to share samples of moon rocks with universities in the United States and five other countries.
The China National Space Administration said on Thursday it would share samples brought back to earth by the Chang’e-5 mission with Brown University in Rhode Island and Stony Brook University in New York.
The two American institutions needed special permission from Congress to receive the samples.
The space administration announced the loan to the US universities and other institutions on Thursday, China’s national space day.
The University of Cologne in Germany, Osaka University in Japan, the Open University in Britain, France’s Paris Institute of Planetary Physics and Pakistan’s national space agency, the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission will also be lent samples to study.
The space administration received applications to borrow its moon rocks from 11 countries, and Shan Zhongde, the head of the organisation, said China would continue to accept international research applications for loans.
“China’s lunar exploration programme has always adhered to the principles of equality, mutual benefit, peaceful use and win-win cooperation, sharing development achievements with the international community.
“We look forward to scientists worldwide making more scientific discoveries, jointly expanding human knowledge and benefiting all of humanity,” he said.


China had invited scientists from around the world to make a pitch to borrow the samples.
However, the two successful US applicants – Stephen Parman from Brown and Timothy Glotch from Stony Brook University – have both received funding from Nasa, which meant they needed special permission from Congress to work with the Chinese space agency.
In 2023, Nasa said it would ask Congress to allow US researchers to study the samples which came “from regions of the moon not yet sampled by Nasa and are expected to provide valuable new scientific insight”.
The rock samples were brought back by Chang’e-5, which landed on the near side of the moon in 2020 in a region known as the Ocean of Storms. The probe returned to earth with around 1.73kg (3.8lbs) of rocks – many of them around a billion years younger than samples the Americans and Soviets had collected previously.
Chinese researchers have already found evidence from the samples that volcanoes had remained active on the moon as recently as 120 million years ago – far later than had been previously thought.
Last year, the Post reported that officials in China and the US had been negotiating to give Chinese scientists access to materials brought back by the Apollo missions.
But while China was ready to share its moon rocks, the request for the American samples remained unanswered, according to people familiar with the matter.


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Chinese space agency says American scientists will be among the international researchers allowed to study lunar samples


Chinese space agency says American scientists will be among the international researchers allowed to study lunar samples.


US scientists given access to moon rocks brought back by China’s Chang’e-5 probe

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chinese space agency says American scientists will be among the international researchers allowed to study lunar samples

Chinese space agency says American scientists will be among the international researchers allowed to study lunar samples