Investigation Report on "Human Assets" in Guanghan Palace

Since the first visit to the moon, humans have left behind more than 800 items weighing no less than 181 tons on the lunar surface, and so far, there is no intention to bring them back to Earth. According to NASA's calculations, it costs $20,000 to bring 1 kilogram of items into space, so the shipping cost of these items left on the moon is really expensive, so they can be called "human assets" in Guanghan Palace. Today, let's take a look at the "human assets" on the moon and their stories...

Those "giants"

The heaviest "human asset" left on the moon is the S-IVB, the third stage of the US Saturn V rocket.

The Saturn V launch vehicle was a three-stage rocket, with each stage codenamed S-IC, S-II and S-IVB. The third stage S-IVB was used to send the Apollo spacecraft out of Earth orbit and place it in a specific orbit on the way to the moon.

Each S-IVB is about 17 meters high and 6.6 meters in diameter. There are five such behemoths, corresponding to the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th missions of the US Apollo program. Together, they weigh about 50 tons, accounting for about 27% of the total weight of all objects left on the moon.

In addition, six descent stages of the lunar modules were left behind from the six manned lunar missions.

The lunar module is the "space shuttle" that transported astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. It consists of two parts: the ascending stage and the descending stage. When the lunar module goes to the lunar surface, the ascending stage and the descending stage land together, and when leaving the lunar surface, the ascending stage takes off and the descending stage remains on the lunar surface as a launch pad.

The Probe and Lunar Rover That Never Returned

Humans have carried out many lunar exploration missions. Some lunar probes have actually landed on the moon, while others have crashed into the moon after completing their lunar orbiting missions.

On September 13, 1959, the Soviet Union's Luna 2 probe hit the moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach the moon. Over the next 10 years, the Soviet Union had a total of 22 lunar probes and their lunar rovers on the moon. "Chunkardashian 1" and "Chunkardashian 2" stayed on the moon after completing their missions in 1971 and 1973 respectively, and released the Luna 17 and Luna 21 lunar rovers for field exploration.

Chandrayaan-2 probe

The United States has also landed more than 20 lunar probes on the moon. The most famous of these lunar rovers is the manned lunar rover in the Apollo program, which allows astronauts to travel a long distance on the lunar surface. In the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions, a lunar rover weighing about 210 kilograms was brought to the moon, but no lunar rover was brought back to Earth.

Apollo 15 Lunar Rover

my country's Chang'e-1 was launched on October 24, 2007. It conducted effective exploration in orbit for 16 months and successfully crashed into the moon in a controlled manner in March 2009, making it the first Chinese-developed satellite to enter lunar orbit and obtain a full lunar map.

Chang'e-3 was launched on December 2, 2013, and landed on the moon on December 14. The Yutu lunar rover carried out lunar surface inspections and surveys, acquiring a large amount of engineering and scientific data. Chang'e-4 and its lunar rover are the world's first spacecraft to land and inspect the far side of the moon, and will continue to conduct more in-depth and comprehensive scientific exploration of lunar geology and resource information.

Chang'e-5 was launched on November 24, 2020, and headed for the lunar front to perform a sampling and return mission. On December 7, it brought back 1,731 grams of lunar samples and returned to Earth safely, achieving many firsts in China's space history. Chang'e-6, launched on May 3, 2024, is the world's first spacecraft to return samples from the lunar back. On June 25, Chang'e-6 returned safely to Earth with 1,935.3 grams of lunar samples.

Chang'e 6's return capsule successfully returns to Earth

In addition, lunar probes such as the European Space Agency's "Smart 1", Japan's "Hiten" and "Kaguya 1", and India's "Chandrayaan-1" also fell on the moon after completing their missions.

These instruments and tools must be kept

Astronauts naturally have to do a lot of experiments when they land on the moon, so it is inevitable that lunar surface test equipment, surface electronic property detectors, lunar seismometers, magnetometers and other objects will be left on the moon.

There are currently five reflector arrays on the lunar surface. Astronauts on the Apollo 11, 14, and 15 missions placed laser reflectors on the moon as part of the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment.

The lunar rovers in the Soviet "Chunkard 1" and "Chunkard 2" missions mentioned above were also equipped with small laser reflectors.

Among them, the largest reflector was placed by astronauts on the Apollo 15 mission, with an area of ​​about 0.3 square meters, and nearly 140 polygonal reflectors are densely arranged in the array. So why did the astronauts place so many reflectors?

With these laser reflectors, by measuring the round-trip time of the laser beam from the Earth to the laser reflector on the Moon, the distance between the Moon and the Earth can be accurately monitored. Currently, the Moon is gradually moving away from the Earth at a speed of 3.8 cm per year.

In addition, there are many telescopes, cameras, tripods, lens brushes and Hasselblad cameras with heat protection design used by astronauts left on the moon. One of the Hasselblad cameras that participated in the Apollo 15 mission was brought back to Earth and later sold at auction for more than US$910,000.

Don't be surprised, the astronauts' tools and items such as shovels, hammers, pliers, tweezers, backpacks, thermal blankets, space boots, wet wipes, soap, food packaging bags, etc. were also left on the moon.

Just to keep some "memories"

The picture of the American flag being planted on the moon by astronauts has become a classic commemorative symbol of space history. During the six Apollo missions, American astronauts planted a flag every time they landed on the moon. So there are six American flags on the moon, five of which are still standing upright. Only the flag of Apollo 11 was too close to the spacecraft and was blown down by the wake when the lunar return module took off. However, due to the exposure to cosmic rays, the paint on these flags has faded a little, and now all six flags have turned white.

Alan Bean, an astronaut who performed the Apollo 12 mission, left the silver badge awarded by NASA on the moon. At that time, obtaining a silver badge meant that the astronaut had completed the training but had not yet entered space. Only after completing the space mission would the gold badge be obtained. Six years after wearing the silver badge, Bean finally had his first space mission. After landing on the moon, Bean threw it on the edge of a crater on the moon. Bean said: "Is there a better place to store it than the moon?"

Stayed on the moon for the sake of sentiment

The Fallen Astronaut is a small aluminum sculpture of an astronaut in a space suit, 8.5 cm high. It was left on the moon to commemorate the human pioneers who died in the journey of space exploration. It is the only officially confirmed artwork on the moon. The artwork is the work of Belgian artist Paul van Hoeydonck.

The sculpture "Fallen Astronaut" and a plaque with the mission and names of the astronauts who died

This sculpture was placed on the moon by astronauts on the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. There is also a sign next to the sculpture with the names of 14 astronauts who died in space missions and training written in alphabetical order.

Charles Duke, an astronaut who performed the Apollo 16 mission, set a record for the longest stay on the lunar surface. During a lunar surface exploration mission, Duke placed a plastic-sealed family photo on the lunar surface. On the back of the photo was written: "This is the Duke family of astronauts from Earth. Landing on the moon in April 1972." The photo also has the signatures of four family members, including him, his wife, and two children. However, scientists speculate that due to exposure to strong cosmic radiation and extreme temperatures, the photo may have completely faded now.

There are also many "sudden ideas"

Alan Shepard, the commander of the Apollo 14 mission, was the second astronaut in human history (after Gagarin of the Soviet Union) and the first American astronaut to enter space. With such a long career, he dared to be so "willful" and play two golf balls during his work on the moon, making him the first person to play golf on the moon. So these two golf balls are what he left on the moon.

There are 96 waste collection bags on the moon, including urine, vomit, and feces collection bags. Someone once had a plan that if they could return to the moon, they could recycle them for research to see whether the bacteria inside are dead or alive after years in outer space, and whether they have even mutated.

The astronauts of Apollo 15 carried a falcon feather, which was said to be taken from the falcon mascot of the U.S. Air Force Academy. On the moon, the astronauts used it and a hammer to perform Galileo's experiment on the independence of free fall from mass. Sure enough, in a vacuum, the feather and the hammer fell to the ground at the same time.

Even more bizarre is that there is news that the money signed by astronauts on the moon is worth 1,500 times its face value. The astronauts of Apollo 15 wanted to make some extra money for themselves and brought 100 two-dollar bills to the moon, but finally forgot to bring them back to Earth. In addition, the portrait of astronaut Irwin and the document announcing the alumni of the University of Michigan are also placed in the Guanghan Palace.