Details of national flag unfurled on moon revealed

A Chinese flag is unfurled on Tuesday by the lander of the Chang'e 6 probe on the far side of the moon. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Chinese scientists overcame a number of challenges to develop the special national flag, made of basalt fibers, that was unfurled earlier this week by the lander of the Chang'e 6 lunar probe. The basalt fiber was jointly developed by Wuhan Textile University and China Space Sanjiang Group Co. Xu Weilin, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said his team successfully developed the high-quality "stone version" fabric national flag after overcoming major hurdles over the past four years, including difficulty weaving the fibers and ensuring that the colors won't fade. However, Xu's team developed ultrafine basalt fibers with a diameter about one-third that of human hair, so the Chang'e 6 flag weighs just 11.3 grams, which is 0.5 gram lighter than the Chang'e 5 flag, said Xu. According to Cao, typical firefighting suits and lifesaving rope are usually made of organic materials, and they will burn when exposed to high temperatures of 550 C. However, he said, "The melting point of the basalt fiber garment is 1,600 C, so it can be used for a short time at a high temperature of 1,200 C, and for a long time at 800 C." Firefighting suits, fire blankets and related products made from basalt fibers will be gradually produced in the years ahead, he added.