China provided lunar soil to Russia for research during Putin's visit
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This comes as China celebrates the Space Day on April 24, which marks the day launched the Changzheng-1, also known as Long March 1, carrier rocket in 1970 and the country's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into space.
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A girl tries out a mechanical arm that allows her to experience what low gravity on the moon will feel like, near a model depicting a Chinese spacecraft landing on the moon, at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013n's visit (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
During Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China in February 2022, the executive director of China's Deep Space Exploration Lab, Guan Feng, confirmed on Monday that China provided samples of soil from the moon to Russia for scientific research.
At the celebration of the Space Day of China in the city of Hefei, Guan stated: "When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China in February 2022, China donated a sample of 1.5 grams [0.05 oz] of lunar soil to Russia for scientific purposes."
The samples were gathered in the northeastern part of the lunar mare Oceanus Procellarum, on the visible side of the Moon, and according to Guan, were sent back to Earth by the Chinese probe Chang'e 5 back in December 2020.
The mission in space lasted 23 days, during which it gathered 1,731 grams of lunar samples. It was the first spacecraft sent to collect lunar soil in 44 years which made China the third country to bring soil from the Moon after the US and the Soviet Union.
He added that another 1.5 grams were gifted to French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to China earlier this month.
Read next: China condemns US' weaponization of space
This comes as China celebrates Space Day on April 24, which marks the day launched the Changzheng-1, also known as Long March 1, carrier rocket in 1970 and the country's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into space.
China has been upping its developments and innovations in space, as it announced that it will launch 12,992 satellites into orbit. US media reported that these new satellites will rival Elon Musk's Starlink, which was launched through SpaceX and proved highly capable militarily in the Ukrainian conflict.
Most recently, in December of last year, China's fears were further triggered after SpaceX revealed the anticipated launch of a new project called Starshield, which Chinese researchers discovered would be as good as having installed a surveillance camera network around the globe.
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