On the road to the stars and the sea, there are the firm steps of the Chinese people

We have all heard the saying, "The earth is the cradle of mankind, but mankind will not stay in the cradle forever." Both Eastern and Western cultures have expressed mankind's imagination and yearning for space. But it was not until the 17th century, when Galileo pointed a telescope into space for the first time, that mankind began to observe space scientifically.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, opening the curtain of the human space age. In 1969, humans set foot on the moon for the first time, achieving "a giant step for mankind." In the space race, my country is a latecomer, but not a laggard. The road to space exploration is full of the persistent and determined steps of the Chinese people.

Academician Ouyang Ziyuan, an astrochemist and geochemist, and the first chief scientist of China's lunar exploration project, is an eyewitness, leader and witness of my country's deep space exploration history. Yesterday, Academician Ouyang led the audience in the live broadcast of Mozi Salon, following the path of my country's deep space exploration and appreciating the unique charm of the solar system.

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 carried human civilization and flew into outer space at a speed of more than ten kilometers per second. Now, 44 years have passed, and they have only flown one thousandth of the radius of the solar system. If they want to fly out of the solar system and reach the neighboring Centaurus, it will take tens of thousands of years. Looking back at the earth from the current position of the travelers, the earth is just a small point of light, while there are hundreds of billions of "solar systems" in the Milky Way. According to our current deep space exploration capabilities, we can only explore the solar system.

As the first chief scientist of China's lunar exploration project, Academician Ouyang recalled that although the lunar exploration project was only initially demonstrated around 1993, the scientific and technological preparations before that lasted for 35 years. In the late 1950s, my country was poor and blank, and everything was in ruins. However, under extremely difficult conditions, Chinese scientists never lost confidence in the future. On the one hand, the development of launch vehicles and space vehicles has never stopped, making technical preparations for our entry into space; on the other hand, the research on extraterrestrial materials such as meteorites and interstellar dust has been steadily advanced. On the basis of earth sciences, my country's astrochemistry and comparative planetology fields have been gradually established, and the scientific goals of space exploration have become increasingly clear. Academician Ouyang originally had a degree in mineral deposits, and later became a pioneer in the fields of meteorite science and astrochemistry in my country. He knows this history like the back of his hand.

The demonstration of the lunar exploration project lasted for ten years. According to China's lunar exploration development strategy and long-term planning, my country's lunar exploration will be divided into three stages: exploration (unmanned exploration), landing (manned lunar landing) and residence (building a lunar base, developing and utilizing lunar resources and long-term residence). Among them, the first stage includes the three major tasks of orbiting, landing and returning, and the Chinese have handed in a proud answer. It can be said that in terms of lunar exploration, although my country is a latecomer, it has made many breakthrough achievements and filled many gaps in human lunar exploration:

Chang'e-1 detected the distribution of helium-3 resources in the lunar soil on the front and back sides of the moon;

The Chang'e-2 full-moon digital image is superior to similar full-moon digital products in the world in terms of spatial resolution, image quality, data consistency and integrity, and mosaic accuracy. It is currently the highest-level full-moon digital image and has successfully carried out the exploration of the asteroid 4179 Toutatis.

Chang'e-3 and Chang'e-4 successfully achieved soft landings on the near side and far side of the moon respectively. The relay satellite Queqiao, operating at the Earth-Moon Lagrange L2 point, established a smooth communication link between the Earth and the far side of the moon.

Academician Ouyang also proudly introduced that the moon is 4.5 billion years old. Before Chang'e 4, humans only had research data on the moon from 4 billion to 3 billion years ago. Through the exploration of Chang'e 4 and 5, this scientific gap was filled, and the evolutionary events of all periods since the formation of the moon were finally fully described.

my country's lunar exploration program has achieved remarkable results, and there are more and more "landscapes" on the moon named after Chinese people.

"Through the implementation of lunar satellite exploration, soft landing exploration on the moon and lunar rover survey, and soft landing exploration on the moon and sample return, we have accumulated experience and technology for the next step of manned lunar landing and lunar base construction," said Academician Ouyang confidently.

The moon is a treasure house for mankind. In the eyes of scientists from different backgrounds, lunar exploration has different meanings - it can be used to study the moon and celestial evolution itself, and it can provide sustainable energy for us humans... No matter what, our country has been working tirelessly for the peaceful exploration and use of space for all mankind.

After talking about lunar exploration, Academician Ouyang also introduced the hottest space exploration - Mars exploration. Speaking of Mars exploration, many of Musk's fans have imagined moving to Mars in their lifetime; but in the eyes of scientists, moving to Mars is a task that may last for a hundred years and requires steady progress. As we all know, my country's Tianwen-1 has successfully arrived on Mars with the Mars orbiter and the Mars rover "Zhurong", conducting my country's first independent Mars exploration. This exploration combines the global exploration of Mars with the local fine exploration, and conducts a comprehensive study of Mars' topography, soil, groundwater, ionosphere, magnetic field, atmosphere, etc. In the long run, in terms of Mars exploration, the ultimate goal of the scientific community is to transform Mars into a blue planet suitable for human survival and development through more than a century of efforts, as the "second home" of mankind, and become a sister community for the sustainable development of human society together with the Earth.

In addition, Academician Ouyang also vividly described the highlights and difficulties of asteroid exploration and interplanetary exploration. Through the nearly two-hour report, the audience of the Mozi Salon had a comprehensive and vivid understanding of the plan, path and progress of mankind's advancement into the solar system.

As a scientist who has been engaged in meteorite science, lunar science, earth and planetary science research for more than 60 years, Academician Ouyang has witnessed the great journey of my country's scientific research and comprehensive national strength from weak to strong. In his view, scientific research is inseparable from national rejuvenation. At this year's meeting of academicians of the two academies, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that deep space exploration is the commanding height of science and technology. Our scientists are constantly advancing in the sea of ​​stars in the solar system, and are also contributing to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and to building a great socialist power.

Author: Lin Mei

Review: Wang Jia

Layout: John

About "Mozi Salon"

The Mozi Salon is a large-scale public science forum named after the Chinese sage "Mozi". It is hosted by the Shanghai Research Institute of the University of Science and Technology of China, and co-organized by the USTC New Alumni Foundation, the USTC Education Foundation, the Pudong New Area Science and Technology Association, the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Pudong New Area Science and Technology and Economic Committee.

Mozi is a famous thinker and scientist in ancient my country. His thoughts and achievements are the embodiment of the early scientific buds in my country. The establishment of the "Mozi Salon" aims to inherit and carry forward the scientific tradition, build a social atmosphere that respects science, improve citizens' scientific literacy, and advocate and promote the scientific spirit. The target of science popularization is the general public who love science, have a spirit of exploration and curiosity. We hope to enable the public with the equivalent of middle school or above to understand and appreciate the world's most cutting-edge scientific progress and scientific ideas.