The case for India and China to exchange lunar samples from Chang’e and Chandrayaan
Top: A panorama of the Moon’s surface shot by the Chang’e 5 lander, which shows its robotic sampling arm and marks made in lunar soil by its scoop; Bottom: A close look at a Chang’e 5 lunar sample. Images: CLEP / CNSA | Graphic: Jatan Mehta
As the world marches to the Moon’s south pole, India aims to bring samples from there with ISRO’s upcoming Chandrayaan 4 mission. If successful, it will join the latest set of the world’s lunar samples brought by China via Chang’e missions.
In April, China announced the first set of international researchers whose proposals were selected to study Chang’e 5’s unique lunar samples. These researchers are from universities or institutes in the UK, Japan, France, Germany, Pakistan, and even the US (through efforts outside of NASA). Unfortunately, ISRO, its affiliated institutions or even non-government-funded Indian institutes did not participate in these sample research proposals. Sure, India and China aren’t on friendly terms but there are no legal blockers preventing any Indian institute from studying Chang’e samples. When India and China have economic and industrial relations, why should science be excluded?
Indian scientists have already studied Apollo and Luna samples, and even asteroid ones. As such, Indian researchers stand to benefit from publishing research on the geologically young Chang’e 5 samples. Doing so would also naturally open windows for the national scientific community to access Chang’e 6 samples in the future, which are even more diverse and valuable.
Even more crucially, going through the logistical process of proposing Chang’e sample studies and then getting & storing them would provide India with a good programmatic sense of what it would also need to do for sharing Chandrayaan 4 samples. This experience would span an obviously indirect yet nuanced sense of China’s storage facilities, initial characterization and cataloging of samples, their transport systems, and so on. Compared to the older and expensive Apollo sample curation system, the scale and scope of China’s planetary sample facilities are not only modern but in reach for India to take inspiration from.
While geopolitical hesitation may keep this prospect a dream, it’s worth noting that China did formally welcome India this year to collaborate on Moon missions and the Sino-led ILRS Moonbase project. The invitation came from none other than Wu Weiren, the Chief Designer of China’s extremely successful lunar exploration program.
Indian scientists applying for Chang’e sample studies can enable the next big step: a planetary sample exchange, a mechanism known to work very well in the past and present worldwide—such as the recent US-Japan asteroid sample swap. With Chandrayaan 4 lunar samples in hand, ISRO could initiate a sample exchange program with China and the US, swapping Chang’e and Artemis samples respectively for the uniquely impactful Chandrayaan 4 Moon materials. All three nations will benefit scientifically while India also gets improved geopolitical leverage and China further improves its international relations. A win-win for all, and for humanity.
Originally published as part of Moon Monday.
