Researchers weigh the Chang’e-6 lunar samples during a returner opening ceremony at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in Beijing, capital of China, June 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) — Upon the complete success of the Chang’e-6 mission, which brought back the world’s first samples from the far side of the moon, President Xi Jinping promptly extended his congratulations.
“The outstanding contributions you have made will always be remembered by the country and the people,” Xi told all those who participated in the mission in a congratulatory message.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has always kept the country’s lunar exploration endeavors in his mind.
It is a tradition for the president to extend congratulations upon the success of each Chang’e mission.
He also met representatives of space scientists and engineers who participated in the Chang’e-3, Chang’e-4 and Chang’e-5 missions, inquired about their work and life and took pictures with them.
For three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, Xi highlighted the lunar exploration achievements in his New Year speech.
“Great undertakings are based on innovation, which is crucial for our future,” Xi said in February 2019 when meeting representatives of space scientists and engineers who participated in the research and development of the Chang’e-4 mission.
Living up to Xi’s expectations, China’s researchers and engineers have taken a self-reliant and ingenious path in the lunar exploration program.
Chang’e-4 made history by being the first mission to achieve soft landing on the far side of the moon. Its rover Yutu-2 started roaming and conducting surveys on this rarely-explored terrain in 2019, leaving moving human trails on the far side of the moon for the first time.
Chang’e-5, launched in 2020, was China’s first mission to collect and return lunar samples to Earth. Unlike sampling missions of the United States and the Soviet Union, China chose a complicated technological approach including unmanned rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, which could bring back more samples and lay a technological foundation for manned lunar missions.
Based on the experience of Chang’e-5, Chang’e-6 made further innovations by collecting and returning lunar samples from the moon’s far side, an unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration history.
“We must be bold in our pursuit of innovation, acquire core technologies, strive to be the backbone of the country’s aerospace industry, and scale new heights in space science and technology,” said Xiong Tianci, a young designer with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, developer of the Long March-5 carrier rockets that sent Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6 into space.
Noting that exploring the vast universe is humanity’s common dream, Xi has stressed the importance of conducting international space cooperation and making contributions to the well-being of all mankind.
China’s lunar exploration program stands as evidence of the country’s consistent promotion of international cooperation in the field of space exploration.
China welcomes international applications for the lunar samples brought back by the Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6 missions for scientific researches. Scientists from countries such as Australia, Russia, France, the United States, Britain, and Sweden have taken part in the research of the Chang’e-5 lunar samples.
Chang’e-6 has carried four international payloads, respectively from the European Space Agency (ESA), France, Italy, and Pakistan. Chang’e-7 will carry six international scientific instruments, and Chang’e-8 will offer 200 kilograms of international payload capacity and has garnered over 30 applications.
Xi’s guidance and concern on the lunar exploration program has inspired numerous scientists and engineers, who are committed to advancing major space projects, including deep space exploration, and enhancing international exchanges and cooperation.
“We will continue to foster independent innovation capabilities and improve the independent innovation system, so as to propel bigger and further steps in space exploration,” said Zhang Gao, an expert involved in the development of the Chang’e-6 probe from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
