Scientists have been naming the moon since 1609, when Galileo observed the high mountains and depressions of the moon with a homemade telescope. But they all have a strong personal touch. For example, Galileo named the largest mountain range on the moon after the Apennines in his hometown. At the same time, due to a lack of communication and authority, some lunar locations have multiple names, which creates a lot of confusion. It was not until the establishment of the International Astronomical Union in 1919 that this situation of separate naming was changed. The International Astronomical Union is an authoritative astronomical academic organization recognized by countries around the world and has the power to name planets and satellites. After decades of development and revision, the International Astronomical Union has gradually developed a set of naming procedures and rules for lunar geographical entities. ?
Currently, there are 18 types of landforms defined on the moon, including craters, moon streams, mountains, etc., and different landforms have different naming methods. For example, the important landform craters on the moon are named after prominent scientists, philosophers and other celebrities; while the names of landforms such as Moon Stream, Moon Lake and Moon Sea are named after more abstract Latin words. Among the lunar naming rules established by the International Astronomical Union, there is a very special category, that is, lunar landing sites. There are no fixed naming requirements for this type of landform, but it requires that the applicant has the ability to send a spacecraft to the moon. Since the first human lunar probe landed on the moon in 1959, there have not been many such place names.
It is also important to highlight that the naming rules established by the International Astronomical Union exclude celebrities in some fields, including political and religious figures in the 19th century and later, as well as literary figures. There were once a number of craters on the moon named after writers including Li Bai, Balzac, and Victor Hugo, but they were deleted because the naming rules did not allow them. In the naming list published in 2006, Li Bai Pit was changed to Hume Z Pit.
The Chang'e-5 mission created five Chinese firsts
On November 24, 2020, the Chang'e-5 detector was carried on board the Long March 5 Yaowu launch vehicle developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation It was successfully launched and put into its intended orbit. On December 1, 2020, Chang'e-5 landed in the pre-selected landing area on the front side of the moon. In the early morning of December 17, 2020, the Chang'e-5 returner landed on the Earth carrying lunar samples.
△The Chang'e-5 probe automatically sampled on the lunar surface
The Chang'e-5 mission created five Chinese firsts: the first sampling and encapsulation of extraterrestrial objects; the first time of extraterrestrial objects; The ignition and take-off and precise orbit entry; the first unmanned rendezvous and docking and sample transfer in lunar orbit; the first reentry and return of lunar samples carried at nearly the speed of the second universe; the first establishment of my country's lunar sample storage, analysis and research system.