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Here's the news. China plans to carry out the Tianwen -3 mission mission through two launches around 2028 aiming to bring back samples from Mars.
Liu Jizhong, chief designer of China's Mars Sample Return mission, unveiled the details of the plan at the second international deep space exploration conference which was held earlier this month in Huangshan in East China's Anhui Province.
According to Liu, China has retrieved the first ever samples from the far side of the Moon with the Chang 'e -6 mission this year.
Since Mars is much farther away than the Moon, it will take two launches to carry out the Mars sample return mission due to the limited carrying capacities of current rockets.
The primary scientific goal of the mission will be to search for signs of life.
If other exploration subjects include the Martian climate and its evolution, Martian geology and the planet's internal processes, Liu highlighted that the retrieval of samples from Mars is the most technically challenging space exploration mission since the Apollo program and such retrieval has never been realized.
To meet this goal, Chinese space engineers have to tackle key tasks such as collecting samples on the Martian surface, taking off from the red planet, rendezvousing in the Mars orbit and protecting the planet from contamination.
Liu noted that China will earnestly adhere to international conventions and carry out measures to safeguard both Mars and Earth, as well as the samples from contamination during the mission.
The Tian one -three mission will carry payloads developed through international cooperation and China will collaborate with scientists from around the world to conduct joint research on Mars samples and detection data.
Liu added that in the long -term China will collaborate with other countries or research institutions around the world to complete mission and task definition, requirement analysis, conceptual research as well as implementation plan design and key technology breakthroughs for the construction of a research station on Mars.
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A collection of glass beads retrieved by China's A five lunar mission revealed that the Moon might have been geologically active as recently as 120 million years ago.
Lunar samples obtained prior to the mission indicated that the Moon's volcanic activities had ceased approximately three billion years ago, suggesting it had become a dead planet.
However, the basaltic rock fragments returned by Chang 'e 5 suggest a more recent period of volcanic activity dating back to just 2 billion years ago.
A new study has revealed that three volcanic glass beads, which are supposed to be products of rapid cooling of volcanic magma, formed only about 123 million years ago and were subsequently transported to the Chang 'e -5 landing site.
According to the study published in the journal Science, the lunar molten rocks enriched with volatiles experience a decrease in pressure as they ascend.
This causes the volatiles to escape as gases forming a gas reservoir above the underground magma.
Then, a small amount of magma forms aerosol and suspended particles within the gas reservoir, which are finally ejected explosively onto the lunar surface to translate into small volcanic glass beads.
The researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, investigated approximately 3 ,000 glass beads in returned lunar soil samples, and identified three as having a volcanic origin.
Radiometric dating of the three volcanic glass beads has determined their ages and pointed to volcanism at that time.
These findings have sparked new questions in lunar research, such, including the origin of these youthful volcanic glass beads, and have led to speculation about the potential existence of even more recent lunar volcanic activities.
The Chang 'e -5 probe, which returned to Earth in December 2020, retrieved 1 ,731 grams of lunar samples, consisting primarily of rocks and soil from the lunar surface.
Through analysis of those lunar samples, significant strides have been made, yielding over 80 publications in scientific journals.
Among the findings are the identification of the youngest basalt on the moon and a kind of mineral that harbours water molecules.
samples. This year China's Chang 'e -6 mission achieved a historic first by collecting 1 ,935 .3 grams of lunar samples from the far side of the moon.
This endeavor is also of unique scientific significance and expected to substantially advance people's understanding of the Moon's evolutionary history.
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The governing body of Chinese Basketball Association has announced that the league's 2024 -2025 season will kick off on October 12th.
46 rounds of matches are scheduled for the regular season and each of 20 teams will play 23 home and 23 away matches.
The 20 teams are to be divided into four groups, based on their final standings in the 2023 through 2024 season.
Each team will play four matches apiece against other teams in the same group, and two matches each against those in different groups.
The final round of the regular season will be held on March 31.
starting on April 4th the playoffs will feature four stages the first round will adopt a best -of -three format with best of five for the quarter finals and the for the Finals.
The entire season will conclude no later than May 26.
You are listening to Special English When it comes to traditional Chinese festivals, probably the first one that comes to mind would be the Spring Festival, which is filled with firecrackers, bright red colors, and dumplings, right?
But actually, there is another one that's pretty popular to celebrate, the Mid -Autumn Festival or simply the Moon Festival.
It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which is usually in mid -September or early October in the Gregorian calendar.
It's recorded that Chinese people started to celebrate the mid -autumn festival in the dynasty over 1 ,000 years ago.
In case you're wondering why this festival is so important, it has a lot to do with its symbolism.
It's a holiday that traditionally celebrates family gatherings, good harvests, and feasts.
Okay, bear with me a bit.
As we go back in history just a little, legend has it that ancient Chinese considered the moon as a respectable spirit.
So, offering sacrifices to the moon and praying for blessings was a common social ritual.
Particularly, they found that the moon is usually at its fullest and brightest in the of the eighth lunar month, which is also in the middle of autumn.
Nowadays the Mid -Autumn Festival is a holiday for families to gather for dinner and appreciate the beauty of the moon at night given the traditional thought that its round shape embodies harmony and reunion.
In case I haven't mentioned it already, the Moon festival is unfortunately a prime time to pack on the pounds for eating all of those delicious mooncakes.
So beware, if you've been warned.
For those who have never tried mooncakes, it is a kind of pastry full of rich fillings with a ton of flavors like sweet lotus seed red beans and nuts The list can go on and on You could probably guess what the shape of the mooncake is Could you believe that these cakes were actually?
once used as offerings in ancient China.
Now they are staple snacks for the modern -day mid -autumn festival.
These treats have also been known to trigger debates on which flavor tastes the best.
If you are wondering why, it might have something to do with all the flavors.
As I'm sure you already know, China is a large country with a huge population.
It's pretty safe to say that individual tastes vary throughout the regions.
There is certainly not enough time to go over all the amazing mooncake flavors.
I'll do you a solid and give you the three most common.
At the top of the list, lotus seed is probably one of the most eaten during this festival.
The soft and sweet lotus seed paste.
Usually, there is some salty duck egg yolk inside the cake.
Next up, we have the mixed nut mooncake for all the nut lovers out there.
If you want to get specific, it's more like a nut and seed mixture.
You've got walnuts, almonds, olive kernels, melon seeds, and sesame kernels.
Needless to say, this is why it's called the 5 -nut moon cake that literally drives someone nuts.
Another really popular flavor is the minced meat mooncake.
I know what you're probably thinking.
Meat and cake together in one pastry.
Sounds weird, I know, but don't knock it until you've tried it.
Its texture is flaky and filled with savory meat, which can be eaten as a meal and must be served hot.
I guess you could see it as China's answer to the pot pie.
Don't these flavors sound amazing?
I think I have gained some weight just thinking about them.
Other than the ones I've just mentioned, there are loads of other styles of mooncakes all over China, each tailored to the preferences of local people.
If you have a hankering to give mooncakes a try, remember you don't have to wait for the Mid -Autumn Festival, or be Chinese to enjoy this guilty pleasure.
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That's the end of this edition of Special English.
To recap, I'm going to read one of the news items again at normal speed.
Please listen carefully.
China plans to carry out the Tien 1 -3 mission through two launches around 2028, aiming to bring back samples from Mars.
Liu Ji -jong, Chief Designer of China's Mars sample return mission, unveiled the details of the plan at the second International Deep Space Exploration Conference, which was held earlier this month in Huangshan, in east China's Anhui Province.
Nevertheless, according to Liu, China has retrieved the first -ever samples from the far side of the Moon with the Chang 'e 6 mission this year.
Since Mars is much farther away than the Moon, it will take two launches to carry out the Mars sample -return mission due to the limited carrying capacities of current rockets.
The primary scientific goal of the mission will be to search for signs of life.
Other exploration subjects include the Martian climate and its evolution, Martian geology, community, and the planet's internal processes.
Liu highlighted that the retrieval of samples from Mars is the most technically challenging space exploration mission since the Apollo program and such retrieval has never been realized.
To meet this goal, Chinese space engineers have to tackle key tasks such as collecting samples from the Martian surface, taking off from the Red Planet, rendezvousing in the Mars orbit, and protecting the planet from contamination.
Liu noted that China will earnestly adhere to international conventions and carry out measures to safeguard both Mars and Earth, as well as the samples, from contamination during the mission.
The Tian -1 -3 mission will carry payloads developed through international cooperation, and China will collaborate with scientists from around the world to conduct joint research on Mars samples and detection data.
Liu added that in the long term, China will collaborate with other countries or research institutions around the world to complete mission and task definition, requirement analysis, conceptual research, as well as implementation plan design, and key technology breakthroughs for the construction of a research station on Mars.
This is the end of today's program.
I hope you'll join us every day to learn English at a slower pace.
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We then learn to speak.
We continue to work together.
Though our languages, cultures, and traditions may differ, we still share one thing in common.
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