Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Apr 5, 2019 13:20:54 GMT 2
.#168- With Chang'e 4, China succeeds in the first lunar landing on the moon's hidden face.
With Chang'e 4, China succeeds in the first lunar landing on the moon's hidden face.
Rémy Decourt
Journalist
China has just completed the first lunar landing on the far side of the moon. Early this morning, the mission rover Chang'e 4 landed in the crater Von Kármán. A technical feat that opens a new chapter in the robotic exploration of the moon, a prelude to the first manned missions expected to land by the end of the next decade. Meanwhile, in 2019, China will launch another rover whose task will be to bring back to Earth two kilograms of lunar rock.
Five years after the Yutu rover of the Chang'e 3 mission, set on the visible side of the moon in December 2013, China has again managed to land a rover. But this time the mission landed on the dark side of the Moon. An unprecedented feat in the history of the exploration of our satellite, because neither the United States nor Russia and even less Europe have explored from the ground this unknown part of the Moon. While probes in orbit around the moon have overflown, which allowed to draw many maps, but China is the first country to achieve a moon landing on the hidden face.
The rover of the Chang'e 4 mission, which left Earth on December 8, landed safely at 10:26 am Beijing time, the Chinese National Space Administration said in a press release. It landed in the Von Kármán crater at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude. 186 kilometers wide, this crater is located in the Aitken Basin, an old impact crater with a width of 2,500 kilometers and a depth of 12 kilometers.
A new chapter of lunar exploration opens
The rover did not land on completely unknown ground. In order to best prepare for the landing and scientific work of Chang'e 4, a detailed 3D geological analysis of the nature and history of the Von Kármán crater was completed before the mission's departure. Like Chang'e 3, the Chang'e 4 rover will use a panoramic camera and radar to probe the basement. It also includes an imaging spectrometer in the visible and near infrared and a Swedish instrument that will study the impact of solar winds on the lunar surface for at least three months. A small biological experiment, designed by 28 Chinese universities, will also be part of the mission. It involves growing Arabidopsis and potato seeds and seeing if they emit oxygen through photosynthesis. It will also check if silkworms are able to produce carbon dioxide.
First rounds of wheels for the Yutu 2 rover (jade bunny) on the surface of the hidden side of the Moon. © CNSA
Finally, as we can see, the rover also sent his first images that are historical. Unpublished clichés because the first taken from the surface of the hidden face of the Moon. As the rover can not communicate directly with the Earth, these data have passed through the Queqiao satellite. This Chinese relay satellite, launched in May 2018, is in orbit around the second Lagrange point (L2) of the Earth-Moon system. From this position about 500,000 kilometers from the Earth and 65,000 kilometers from the Moon, he can "see" the Earth and the hidden side of the Moon at the same time.
Did you know ?
Exploring the dark side of the moon was not originally planned in China's program. Indeed, the mission Chang'e 4 was intended to replace the previous Chang'e 3, whose objective was to deposit on the surface of the Moon rover Yutu ("jade rabbit"), in case the latter would have failed.
As Chang'e 3 was finally a success in December 2013, it was decided to use the second rover to send it to the far side of the moon.
Previously, China had launched the Chang'e 1 orbiters in 2003, and Chang'e 2 in 2007. In 2014, it tested the Chang'e 5 T1 capsule for the return of lunar samples to Earth.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER :
1-The rover of Mission Chang'e 4 successfully completed the 3rd of January 2019.
2- This is a historic performance coupled with a great scientific interest.
3- To communicate with Chang'e 4, China will use Quegiao, a satellite launched in May 2018 and designed to relay data from the Mission's rover and landing platform.
F I N .
With Chang'e 4, China succeeds in the first lunar landing on the moon's hidden face.
Rémy Decourt
Journalist
China has just completed the first lunar landing on the far side of the moon. Early this morning, the mission rover Chang'e 4 landed in the crater Von Kármán. A technical feat that opens a new chapter in the robotic exploration of the moon, a prelude to the first manned missions expected to land by the end of the next decade. Meanwhile, in 2019, China will launch another rover whose task will be to bring back to Earth two kilograms of lunar rock.
Five years after the Yutu rover of the Chang'e 3 mission, set on the visible side of the moon in December 2013, China has again managed to land a rover. But this time the mission landed on the dark side of the Moon. An unprecedented feat in the history of the exploration of our satellite, because neither the United States nor Russia and even less Europe have explored from the ground this unknown part of the Moon. While probes in orbit around the moon have overflown, which allowed to draw many maps, but China is the first country to achieve a moon landing on the hidden face.
The rover of the Chang'e 4 mission, which left Earth on December 8, landed safely at 10:26 am Beijing time, the Chinese National Space Administration said in a press release. It landed in the Von Kármán crater at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude. 186 kilometers wide, this crater is located in the Aitken Basin, an old impact crater with a width of 2,500 kilometers and a depth of 12 kilometers.
A new chapter of lunar exploration opens
The rover did not land on completely unknown ground. In order to best prepare for the landing and scientific work of Chang'e 4, a detailed 3D geological analysis of the nature and history of the Von Kármán crater was completed before the mission's departure. Like Chang'e 3, the Chang'e 4 rover will use a panoramic camera and radar to probe the basement. It also includes an imaging spectrometer in the visible and near infrared and a Swedish instrument that will study the impact of solar winds on the lunar surface for at least three months. A small biological experiment, designed by 28 Chinese universities, will also be part of the mission. It involves growing Arabidopsis and potato seeds and seeing if they emit oxygen through photosynthesis. It will also check if silkworms are able to produce carbon dioxide.
First rounds of wheels for the Yutu 2 rover (jade bunny) on the surface of the hidden side of the Moon. © CNSA
Finally, as we can see, the rover also sent his first images that are historical. Unpublished clichés because the first taken from the surface of the hidden face of the Moon. As the rover can not communicate directly with the Earth, these data have passed through the Queqiao satellite. This Chinese relay satellite, launched in May 2018, is in orbit around the second Lagrange point (L2) of the Earth-Moon system. From this position about 500,000 kilometers from the Earth and 65,000 kilometers from the Moon, he can "see" the Earth and the hidden side of the Moon at the same time.
Did you know ?
Exploring the dark side of the moon was not originally planned in China's program. Indeed, the mission Chang'e 4 was intended to replace the previous Chang'e 3, whose objective was to deposit on the surface of the Moon rover Yutu ("jade rabbit"), in case the latter would have failed.
As Chang'e 3 was finally a success in December 2013, it was decided to use the second rover to send it to the far side of the moon.
Previously, China had launched the Chang'e 1 orbiters in 2003, and Chang'e 2 in 2007. In 2014, it tested the Chang'e 5 T1 capsule for the return of lunar samples to Earth.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER :
1-The rover of Mission Chang'e 4 successfully completed the 3rd of January 2019.
2- This is a historic performance coupled with a great scientific interest.
3- To communicate with Chang'e 4, China will use Quegiao, a satellite launched in May 2018 and designed to relay data from the Mission's rover and landing platform.
F I N .
