China Unveils Its First and Unnamed Moon Rover

By Crisp
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Grand Master

Crisp

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China Unveils Its First and Unnamed Moon Rover

 

Chinese scientists described the country's first moon rover on Wednesday and invited the global public to come up with a name for it.

Zhao Xiaojin, director of the aerospace department of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, depicted the lunar rover an orbiter adaptable to harsh environments; a highly efficient and integrated robot; and a high altitude "patrolman" carrying the dreams of Asia.

The Chang'e-3 mission to moon, named after a Chinese lunar goddess, will take place in December, when a Chinese spacecraft will soft-land on a celestial body for the first time.

The rover has two wings, stands on six wheels, weighs 140 kg and will be powered by solar energy.

"When it arrives in lunar orbit on board a lander, the rover will choose the best landing site and gently touch down the moon's surface, using optical and microwave sensors to avoid rocks and craters," Zhao said.

The rover will "select the best route, use minimal fuel and make the smallest possible error" during landing and is capable of hovering to steer clear of obstacles, he said.

Domestic and overseas compatriots can submit their proposed names for the rover through the Internet and the official name will be announced in November after an online poll on the selected proposals.

Li Benzheng, deputy chief designer of China's lunar probe program, said the name of the rover should express the wishes of Chinese at home and abroad, feature the modern and national traits to inspire people.

Li noted the rover will recognize obstacles on the moon's surface, and plot a path of least resistance by a combination of onboard navigation systems and remote control from the command center.

 

Source and more

 

A visitor takes photos of a 1: 8 scale model of Chang'e 3 moon rover on September 25, 2013. A public naming campaign was launched for the moon rover on the same day in Beijing which will be lunched by the year end. [Photo: China News Service/ Sun Zifa]

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Grand Master

Arachno 1D

Posted
Posted

Perhaps if the Chinese bring it down near enough to the US landing sites there will finally be irrevocable proof for all the doubters that the Americans actually landed on the moon.

 

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  • trag3dy and Hum
  • Like 2
Grand Master

FlintyV

Posted
Posted

Take pics of the American flag while you're there China :D

 

Those flags will now be completely white. It's not really about the US anywho  :)

 

 

Perhaps if the Chinese bring it down near enough to the US landing sites there will finally be irrevocable proof for all the doubters that the Americans actually landed on the moon.

 

 

That evidence already exists but people choose to disbelieve it. 

  • hamslammer and thomastmc
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  • 2 months later...
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

China has launched its Jade Rabbit lunar rover (y)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/world/asia/china-prepares-to-launch-moon-rover-mission.html

HONG KONG ? China?s latest display of ambition in space involves sending a Jade Rabbit roaming across the Bay of Rainbows.

A rocket blasted off from southwest China early Monday, carrying the country?s first robotic lunar rover, the Jade Rabbit, which will explore a plain on the moon that, despite its colorful name, is a dark expanse of hardened lava.

If successful, the Chang?e-3 mission will be China?s first ?soft landing? on the moon ? which allows a craft to operate after descending ? and the first such landing by any country since 1976, when the Soviet Union sent a probe. The last American expedition on the moon?s surface was a manned visit in 1972. Chinese state-run television broadcast footage of the rocket?s untroubled launch and ascent into space, where the Chang?e-3 craft set off toward the moon.

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> (several paragraphs of political crap)

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For the Chang?e-3 mission, the rover ? a solar-powered, six-wheeled vehicle similar to ones the United States has sent to Mars ? will spend three months exploring, using radar to collect data on rocks up to 328 feet below the surface, Ouyang Ziyuan, a senior consultant to the mission, told China?s state-run Xinhua news agency. A future mission that could take place in several years would be intended to bring back rocks and other samples from the moon.

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Firing thrusters after booster separation. The Trans-Lunar Injection burn was appatently successful.

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Grand Master

FloatingFatMan

Posted
Posted

Landing successful. Rover deployment tomorrow. These images are just a few of the 59 taken. May get he over the next day or so.

 

 

I guess they couldn't wait till tomorrow...

 

China's Jade Rabbit robot rover has driven off its landing module and on to the Moon's surface.

The robotic vehicle rolled down a ramp lowered by the lander and on to the volcanic plain known as Sinus Iridum.

Earlier on Saturday, the landing module containing the rover fired its thrusters to perform the first soft landing on the Moon since 1976.

The touchdown in the Moon's northern hemisphere marks the latest step in China's ambitious space programme.

The lander will operate there for a year, while the rover is expected to work for some three months.

More at source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25384057

Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

Posted
Posted

China should start putting the same amount of quality into their Chinese made for USA products as their space equipment!

  • 1 month later...
Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

http://www.spacedaily.com/m/reports/Farewell_to_Yutu_999.html

Farewell to Yutu

By now, it seems almost certain that China's Yutu Moon rover has died a premature death in the cold lunar night. The rover has been exposed to sunlight for a few days, and there has been no word of it waking up.

Yutu was carried to the Moon aboard China's Chang'e-3 Moon lander, a boxy structure reminiscent of the base of an Apollo lunar lander from the 1960s. Chang'e-3 made history by becoming China's first mission to land on the Moon, and the first object to softly land there in more than three decades.

Yutu's problems began roughly three weeks ago when a solar panel failed to fold inwards over the rover's body, just before night fell at the rover's landing site. The folding panel was designed to protect the rover's interior during the two-week lunar night, by trapping heat from a radioisotope source. Without this protection, the rover's electronics have apparently frozen.

China had originally expected Yutu to function for roughly three months. The failure of Yutu after less than a month of nominal surface operations is a disappointment.

Apart from mourning its loss, the major priority for China's space program will be conducting a post-mortem for Yutu. It is vital to know how it malfunctioned. Fortunately, there seems to be a lot of data that was obtained before night fell.

We know that the solar panel did not close. We can easily deduce how this affected the thermal protection for the rover. Much work will need to be performed to work out exactly why this mechanical failure occurred in the first place.

Moving parts are always tricky for spacecraft. Getting them to work on the Moon is even more difficult. Apart from the vicious cycles of heat and cold, there is the ever present problem of dust. We do not know if the hinges were jammed by dust, or if there was a failure of the motors or mechanisms designed to close the panel for some other reason. Lubricant could have been worn away from some part, causing friction or even a "cold welding" of metal surfaces in a vacuum. China will probably be conducting simulations to determine the most likely cause.

With Yutu's case file certain to close in the near future, it will be time to consider the fate of China's next Moon mission. China has already built a back-up lander, dubbed Chang'e-4, which it planned to launch in a few years. This is a typical strategy of China's lunar exploration program: Two identical spacecraft are built in case one fails.

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