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A comment on Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side. Parent comment

Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by somenameforme on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @12:48PM (#40790714)
The reason you seek to explore what you don't know is because you don't know what you don't know.

In general I don't think people really appreciate how ridiculously little we know about everything outside of our planet. Like for instance it was only in 2013 (!!!) that it was discovered that Mars' soil is relatively 'moist', about 2% water by mass. And that's just the topsoil layer - it's suggestive that below the surface it could well be even more moist.

But the Moon's much closer, so we must know more, right? Well water ice on the Moon was only confirmed in 2018!! [1] So actually starting to get surface samples, and explore more of the Moon, ideally with a rapid return to humans on it is so exciting because who knows what we'll find out next? The unknown is precisely what makes exploring the unknown so enticing, rewarding, and fun!

[1] - https://www.space.com/41554-water-ice-moon-surface-confirmed...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by vasco on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @02:10PM (#40791629)
> Well water ice on the Moon was only confirmed in 2018

Thats for surface water, we confirmed a while longer the moon has water underground.

[ Parent | on HN ]
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Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by porphyra on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @01:28PM (#40791134)
Let's not bring sinophobia and geopolitics into a scientific mission to the moon.
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Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by pc86 on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @02:14PM (#40791673)
No, but can we bring realism into it? The explorers may be exploring for the sake of it, but the people paying for it definitely aren't. Many - perhaps even most - of the people at NASA would have probably done the job for free if they were able, but the people allocating NASA's budget in the 50s and 60s were doing so for geopolitical reasons first and foremost.
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Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by darkwater on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @04:22PM (#40793152)
So if it's "us" it's good, and if it's "them", it's bad?
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Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by Dalewyn on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @08:54PM (#40795369)
At the end of the day? Yes. No, the world ain't fair.

Whoever makes a permanent presence on the Moon first gets to decide what everyone else can do there.

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Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by pc86 on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @08:25AM (#40799170)
Feel free to quote from my comment where I said anything that could be construed that way.
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Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by hifromwork on Tuesday June 25, 2024 @05:45PM (#40794026)
Personally I don't care much who sponsors scientific missions. I wish we would all collectively spent more on science. If China is going to help science, I'm happy to cheer for them.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with sample... by poulpy123 on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @06:07AM (#40798288)
> The reason you seek to explore what you don't know is because you don't know what you don't know.

In theory yes, in practice it's never the case, you have to justify hard why you want to do the experience and what you expect. Especially with multi million dollar experiences like these

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