Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Photo taking during Chang’e-5 moon surface sampling session in December 2020.
Credit: CNSA/China Central Television (CCTV)

Seven institutions from six countries – including the United States — have been granted a go-ahead to borrow samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission.

The authorized U.S. institutions are Brown University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Also given sample access is the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) in France, the University of Cologne in Germany, Osaka University in Japan, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the Open University in the United Kingdom.

Chang’e-5 return capsule holding lunar specimens.
Image credit: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS

In 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 Moon mission retrieved lunar samples weighing about 1,731 grams.

 The China National Space Administration (CNSA), in November 2023, opened applications for international researchers to borrow Chang’e-5 lunar samples.

By the end of December 2023, CNSA said it had received 24 applications from 11 countries and international organizations.

Loan agreement details

Timothy Glotch is a professor of geosciences at Stony Brook University in New York. He told Inside Outer Space that NASA and CNSA were unable to come to terms on the loan agreement for the Chang’E-5 samples.

“As a result, due to the Wolf amendment, I am not able to use any NASA funds to carry out the work my team and I proposed to do on the Chang’E-5 samples,” Glotch said. “However, the Stony Brook University administration has provided me with internal funds for travel and to conduct our proposed analyses, which is exciting.”

The Wolf Amendment is a law passed by the United States Congress that prohibits NASA from using government funds to engage in direct, bilateral cooperation with the Chinese government and China-affiliated organizations from its activities without explicit authorization from the FBI and the U.S. Congress.

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects specimens from the Moon brought back by the return sample mission.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Glotch added that the Stony Brook contracts office still has to sign off on the loan agreement, and has been in touch with the CNSA representative about this.

“I hope that this last step can be resolved soon and that I can plan my travel to China to collect the samples and begin the analyses that we proposed,” said Glotch. “It is an honor to have been chosen to work with these samples. I’m champing at the bit to get to work!”

Huge scientific value

Also granted access to the lunar specimens is Stephen Parman of Brown University’s department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science in Providence, Rhode Island.

“It is important to emphasize we are not going to use any NASA funds for this work. So we are in compliance with the Wolf Amendment,” Parman told Inside Outer Space.

Once all the necessary approvals from their respective institutions are obtained, Parman and Glotch plan to go over together later this year to obtain the samples.

“It is an honor to be able to work on these samples,” said Parman. “They have huge scientific value, as all returned samples do. We should get more!”

Red Planet collaboration

Meanwhile, China has also released a notice on Tianwen-3 international cooperation opportunities.

Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space

That mission is geared for returning samples from Mars and is slated for launch around 2028, according to CNSA.

At a ceremony for Space Day of China held in Shanghai, CNSA announced that the Tianwen-3 spacecraft will allocate 20 kilograms of resources for international collaboration. The Tianwen-3 spacecraft comprises a lander, an ascent vehicle, a service module, an orbiter and a return module, and it is equipped with six scientific payloads.

According to a China Central Television (CCTV) report, the orbiter will operate in a circular Martian orbit at an altitude of about 350 kilometers, and has a designed lifespan of no less than five years.

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Payload resources

The service module will operate in a highly elliptical orbit, conducting in-orbit exploration for approximately two Martian years with a designed lifespan of no less than five years.

For this mission, the CNSA is offering international cooperation payload resources including no more than 15 kilograms on the orbiter and up to 5 kilograms on the service module.

Liu Jizhong, chief designer of China’s Mars sample-return mission, has stated that it will take two Long March-5 launches to carry out the Mars sample-return mission.