chemchina makes national flag for chang'e lunar probe
national flag developed by north paint & coatings industry research and design institute lands on the moon
at 11:00pm, dec 15, 2013, yutu, china's first moon rover, and the lunar probe chang'e 3's lander managed to take pictures of each other. the bright-colored national flag seen in the photo signifies that china has become the third country in the world to conduct a soft landing on the moon and lunar surface inspection, following the soviet union and the us.
chemchina provided support of many auxiliaries, such as fuel, for the moon landing. the company’s north paint & coatings industry research and design institute was responsible for the development of the specially-made national flags. flags made of ordinary materials can’t survive on the moon, where there are large temperature differences, strong space radiation, high vacuum and extreme weather conditions.
after nearly a year of research and experimentation, the institute was able to develop a special technical process and specially-synthesized resin and pigment to overcome the temperature gap and the impact from ultraviolet and other macromolecule rays. the flags were created using special coatings and processes that make them resistant to the moon’s lethal dosages of radiation and help them maintain their original color under extreme environments. the flag on the lander is 480mm long and 320mm wide, and the one on the yutu is 190mm long and 128mm wide.
“although we’ve done a lot of experimentation, we are nervous. looking at the pictures just sent back from the moon, the flag passed the test and maintained its original color as we expected,” said wang bo, general manager of the institute.
the institute is one of china’s earliest facilities engaging in r&d of coatings, pigments and adjuncts. for more than 40 years, its thermopaint and chemical milling protective coatings have been widely used in aerospace and electronics, laying a solid foundation for china’s aerospace development and scientific research.