【365PLAN】Chinese Lunar Exploration Program （Chang‘e Project）- 2020.11.20

China set to bring back first rocks from the Moon in more than 40 years -- By Daniel Clery

The crater counting method for determining age relies on the notion that surfaces scarred with fewer craters are younger than those that have accumulated more. Regions dated with Apollo and Luna samples have helped calibrate the method. But except for one young outlier, all of those dates cluster between 3.2 billion and 3.9 billion years, leaving the method unanchored, and highly uncertain, for surfaces younger than 3 billion years old, Terada says. “Chang’e-5 samples will provide another data point,” he says.

Getting a firm date for Mons Rümker will also shed light on how lunar volcanism changed over time. Evidence suggests numerous eruptions in the first billion years of the Moon’s existence blanketed the surface with volcanic basalts, forming the dark maria, before tapering off about 3 billion years ago. If Mons Rümker material proves to be just 1.3 billion years old, it will raise questions about how the interior of a small planetary body remained hot enough to erupt so long after formation, says Romain Tartese, a planetary scientist at the University of Manchester.

Note_Language:The article is readable and interesting. No specific language knowledge needs to be analyzed. I am just aware that my vocabulary is so poor compared with the words the authors used in the article. It stays at the level of high school students. I really should take some time in vocabulary. Not just REMEMBER the word, BUT UNDERSTAND the word in a sentence.

Note_Content: I receive a lot of information about Space X and NASA recently because it sends 4 people into the space station. Today, I see China will launch Chang'e-5 on 24 Nov. and bring back the 10th rock after the USA from the moon. which really excites me. It is no doubt that China is developing rapidly, and it is inevitable that what we have done makes some people afraid. So, the status or the role of China in the world is a problem that we should consider today.