China's Space Program: Yutu & Tianwen Rovers, Chang'e

[Randy W]

An ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post

 

China to launch lunar probe for landing mission

 

"Chang'e-3 has officially entered its launch stage, following its research and manufacture period," said a statement released by the administration after Wednesday's meeting on the mission.

 

The mission will see a Chinese space probe land on a celestial body for the first time.

 

. . .

 

The Chang'e-3 mission is the second phase of China's lunar program which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth, following the successes of the Chang'e-2 missions, which include plotting a high-resolution, full-coverage lunar map.

 

 

[Randy W]

WSJ -

Vote: What Name Should China Give Its First Lunar Rover?

Quote

China’s moon mission, named for the lunar goddess Chang’e, is scheduled to take place in December. According to Xinhua, it will mark the first soft landing by a Chinese spacecraft on a celestial body.

As is their wont, China’s famously feisty microbloggers have had some fun with the naming contest, proffering sardonic labels that skewer a number of the government’s foibles.

. . .

“It has to be called The Chengguan,” wrote one user of Sina Corp.’s Twitter-like Weibo microblogging service. “It can demolish that crappy flag the Americans have been showing off up there the last half-century. No problem if the Americans get angry. We’ll just say this rover is a temporary rover, and that he’s already been fired.”

Other suggestions: “The From Ancient Times,” borrowed from a set phrase Beijing uses in pressing its territorial claims in Tibet and elsewhere; and “The 404 Not Found,” after the error page that typically pops up when trying to visit blocked websites inside China.

Among serious submissions, the choice that appears to have the most momentum is “The Jade Rabbit,” a reference to the mythical, exilir-mixing hare who is said to share real estate with Chang’e.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the celestial cottontail has been associated with a lunar landing. According to the transcript of air-to-ground communications during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, pilot Buzz Aldrin was told to look out for a beautiful woman named “Chang-o” and an unnamed rabbit who’d been living on the moon for 4,000 years.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

The launch is less than an hour and a half from right now

 

China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/828819.shtml

 

China will launch the Chang'e-3 lunar probe to the moon at 1:30 am Monday from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the mission's launching headquarters said Saturday.

It will be the first time for China to send a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where it will conduct surveys on the moon.

 

[dan1984]

Launched from my lady's hometown - Xi Chang! Seems as if everybody there is quite excited about it. As it is earthquake territory, whenever there are launches, people jump out of bed at night and are about to run outside before putting two and two together.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

On 12/2/2013 at 6:33 AM, dan1984 said:

Launched from my lady's hometown - Xi Chang! Seems as if everybody there is quite excited about it. As it is earthquake territory, whenever there are launches, people jump out of bed at night and are about to run outside before putting two and two together.

 

As usual, the launch is not openly publicized until and if they are successful. We'll probably see some video of the launch later today. Here's a short video in English that explains the rocket and launch probe:

 

 

 

The rocket and spacecraft just before launch:

< ___tinypic_kicked_the_bucket___>

And a photo of the launch early this morning...

< ___tinypic_kicked_the_bucket___>

Another view of the launch from China Daily:

< ___tinypic_kicked_the_bucket___>

Edited June 27, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

An update

 

Chang'e-3 moves into closer lunar orbit

The probe descended from a 100 kilometer-high lunar orbit to an elliptical orbit with its nearest point, just 15 kilometers from the moon's surface.

 

 

. . .

 

The moon landing is set to take place around mid-December, the first time a Chinese spacecraft has made a soft landing on a non-earth surface.

 

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Chang'e probe moves to within 15km of lunar surface

Spacecraft successfully fires thrusters to reduce orbit ahead of planned touchdown of country's first moon lander and rover over the weekend. The lunar probe Chang'e-3 has shifted its orbit, moving closer to the moon ready for its landing scheduled on Saturday, state media reported.

The craft changed from a circular to an elliptical orbit, which took its distance to the lunar surface from 100 kilometres to as little as 15 kilometres, Xinhua said. The manoeuvre was conducted when Chang'e-3 was on the dark side of the moon and could not be seen directly from earth. The probe fired its thrusters automatically and when it reemerged on the radar of Beijing's flight control it was flying precisely on the new elliptical orbit as programmed.

The country's space authorities have also revealed more information about the devices that will be critical to a successful landing on the lunar surface. Wu Ji , chief payload scientist, told Xinhua a landing camera would be activated when the probe was about two kilometres above the moon to determine the best spot for its descent. It will also beam back to earth the images of the first landing on a celestial body by a Chinese spacecraft. "Though the landing camera will work only a few minutes and take only dozens of images, these will be very important to the study of the lunar landscape and route planning for the rover," he said. Those images will have been made possible in part thanks to a Hongkonger - Yung Kai-leung, an engineering professor at Polytechnic University, developed the structure that holds the camera and allows it to move.

Chang'e-3 would take control of the touchdown, the Science and Technology Daily, a newspaper under the control of the Ministry of Science and Technology, reported. Space authorities would not intervene and would allow the probe to calculate where to land and adjust the speed of its descent to the lunar surface, the newspaper said. The landing vehicle can touch down anywhere within an area about half the size of a soccer pitch at a speed of lower than four metres per second. To absorb the force of impact, the probe has been equipped with strong suspension in its four legs. Scientists also gave the probe feet the shape and size of a wash basin to achieve maximum stability after landing. If the landing succeeds, it will be the first probe to touch down on the moon since a Russian craft in 1976. Other missions since then have crashed probes into the lunar surface. The probe features a lander and the solar-powered robotic rover, called Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, which will carry out geological surveys and astronomical observations for three months.

It would be the first rover to operate on the moon since 1973.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1378185/change-probe-moves-within-15km-lunar-surface

Edited December 12, 2013 by GuangDongExpat (see edit history)

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Photo of the China Lunar Lander (Chan Ge 3)

 

< ___tinypic_kicked_the_bucket___>

[Randy W]

Chang'e-3 to land on moon Saturday night

 

China's lunar probe Chang'e-3 will land on the moon at around 9:40 pm Saturday and will be China's first spacecraft to soft-land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, Legal Mirror reported Friday.

It will take Chang'e-3 12 minutes to land on the moon from a distance of about 15 kilometers above the surface.

A machine that can calculate speed and distance in the lander of the Chang'e-3 will scan the moon's surface during landing. It will suspend itself 100 meters above the surface, moving Chang'e-3 to the optimal point for a smooth landing.

. . .

After separating with Chang'e-3, Yutu will land on the surface of the moon through a ladder and travel at a speed of 200 meters per hour.

 

 

That's around 8:40AM EST.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

 

After separating with Chang'e-3, Yutu will land on the surface of the moon through a ladder and travel at a speed of 200 meters per hour.

 

 

 

 

Surely wish them well. 200 meters per hour is a little over one-mile-per-hour. I wonder if YuTu will contact R2D2?

Edited December 14, 2013 by GuangDongExpat (see edit history)

[Randy W]

 

 

After separating with Chang'e-3, Yutu will land on the surface of the moon through a ladder and travel at a speed of 200 meters per hour.

 

 

 

 

Surely wish them well. 200 meters per hour is a little over one-mile-per-hour. I wonder if YuTu will contact R2D2?

 

 

That would be its roving speed on the lunar surface - 200 meters is about 1/8 of a mile.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

 

 

 

After separating with Chang'e-3, Yutu will land on the surface of the moon through a ladder and travel at a speed of 200 meters per hour.

 

 

 

 

Surely wish them well. 200 meters per hour is a little over one-mile-per-hour. I wonder if YuTu will contact R2D2?

 

 

That would be its roving speed on the lunar surface - 200 meters is about 1/8 of a mile.

 

 

YouToo will have to move faster than that to catch R2D2.

Edited December 14, 2013 by GuangDongExpat (see edit history)

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Yutu (YouToo) is the Jade Rabbit; the Chinese lunar rover name was decided from an online poll.

 

< ___tinypic_kicked_the_bucket___>

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

CCTV shows the landing successful and now showing video of the approach.

[dnoblett]

http://shanghaiist.com/2013/12/15/yutu-rolls-on-moon-chang-e-3.php

 

 

 

China's first lunar rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit) successfully separated itself from the lander early this morning and rolled onto the moon's surface amidst a cloud of lunar dust, hours after the Chang'e-3 probe soft landed on the moon and made China the third country in the world to accomplish such a rover mission.

 

Xinhua reports:

 

 

The 140 kg six-wheeled rover touched the lunar surface at 4:35 a.m., leaving deep trace on the loose lunar soil. The process was recorded by the camera on the lander and the images were sent to the earth, according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

After the separation, the rover and lander will take photos of each other and start their own scientific explorations.

The Chang'e-3 landed on the moon's Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, in the northern hemisphere at 9:11 on Saturday night. China is now the third country in the world to carry out this mission after the US and former Soviet Union.

 

According to Chinese mythology, Yutu was the pet rabbit of lunar goddess Chang'e. The rover's name was selected through an online poll that included participants from all over the world.

 

MORE: