Back on the Moon, Thanks to China

 Space  

China's Chang'e-3 lunar lander, with the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) lunar rover onboard, successfully landed on the Moon's surface this weekend. This marks the first soft landing on the moon by any nation in 37 years. Hopefully with the new commercial ventures and the X-PRIZE Lunar Lander Challenge upcoming, this marks a new common activity for us all.

Chang’e 3’s successful soft-landing on the moon was the first such landing in 37 years. The last probe to soft-land on the moon was the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976.

Now, five of the eight pieces of scientific equipment aboard the lunar probe have started to observe space, the Earth and the Moon.

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The mission has entered working mode and telescopes and cameras have produced clear images, Zou Yongliao, a scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at a press conference.

Comprising a lander and rover Yutu, (Jade Rabbit) Chang'e-3 soft-landed on the Moon on Saturday evening. Yutu later separated from the lander and rolled to moon surface earlier Sunday. In ancient Chinese mythology, Yutu was the white pet rabbit of the lunar goddess Chang'e.

Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2013 shows a picture of the moon surface taken by the on-board camera of the lunar probe Chang'e-3 on the screen of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China. China's lunar probe Chang'e-3, with the country's first moon rover onboard, landed on the moon on Saturday night, marking the first time that China has sent a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin)

The mission makes China the third country after the Soviet Union and the United States to soft land a spacecraft on lunar soil.

The lander and Yutu each carries four scientific instruments to conduct Moon-based observation, Zou said, adding the lander's cameras took photos of the Moon during its descent.

Yutu and the lander took photos of each other Sunday night through the lander's landform camera and Yutu's panoramic camera. The color images, transmitted live, showed the Chinese national flag on Yutu.

Yutu's radar started working Sunday night to test the structure of lunar soil, according to Zou.

"Chang'e-3 will study the Moon's landforms, geological structure, substance, and potentially exploitable resources," he said, adding, "the lander will observe the Earth's plasmasphere through telescopes."

Scientists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have participated in the Chang'e missions, and some of the data can be shared by scientists and tech savvy enthusiasts all over the world, Zou added.

Chang'e-3 is part of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to the Earth. It follows the success of the Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 missions in 2007 and 2010.



SOURCE  CCTV

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