Tag: CNSA

  • Yutu is on the Surface of the Moon and Playing Around

    Last time, I left you with the Chang’e 3 lander on the surface of the Moon and we were expecting the deployment of the rover on the surface of the Moon. It has been 24 hours since the last update.

    Since the Chinese refuse to let us know in plain English what they plan to do, I decided to look for an update after they have completed everything. Twitter has been quite efficient at delivering in a time bound manner some of the awesome highlights of the mission. A blog post, I think is a more reflective affair and needs more time.

    Around now, while India’s Mars Orbiter spacecraft is 10 times the distance from the Moon, China’s rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit) has been deployed on the lunar surface. Also, the rover and the lander have taken pictures of each other.

    There is this very cool video of the landing of the Chang’e 3. Emily Lakdawalla on the Planetary Society blog [Disclosure: I am a member of the Society] has animated gifs of the rover getting off the lander and colour photos that the lander and rover took off each other. Her posts also links to several other resources and people talking of the landing. Nasaspaceflight.com seems particularly active with people trying to figure out and put together this landing story for the English audience. Stephen Clark at SpaceFlight Now has a more general update.

    Indian media has been covering the story for the angle of peaceful exploration of the Moon. Articles don’t seem to have conveyed the excitement that has gone with this landing owing to the rate at which China has posted videos and pictures on this mission. Which is sad. Interestingly also, very few people have raised comparison with India’s Chandrayaan-II and if India lost in this race (despite both countries refusing the fact that they are in a race, it makes writing about these things more fun, when healthy competition exists). India’s lunar landing is now targeted at 2016-17.

    Now, let’s wait for the science from the Chang’e 3.

  • Chang’e 3 Landing Today

    There is a deafening silence in the Indian media about the accomplishments of the Chinese Chang’e 3. The spacecraft arrived at lunar orbit on December 6 and has since moved into an orbit with a periselene of 15 km and an aposelene of 100 km. Today evening at 1910 hrs it’ll become the first spacecraft since 1976 to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon.

    Emily Lakdawalla reports more about the landing here. Ken Kramer paints the broader picture on Universe Today.

    CCTV News is the English news channel that might have updates. On Twitter, @ESA_Operations might be a good place to follow other than the usual suspects.

  • China lands on the Moon

    Just taking a quick break to post this. China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft has just made a soft landing on the surface of the Moon on Bay of Rainbows or somewhere near the outside of it. After landing they have deployed the solar arrays and are now checking out instrument health. A rover will be rolled onto the lunar surface on Tuesday. The landing took place at 1840 hrs IST.

    Interestingly, the commentator didn’t seem to be ready for the landing. It powered itself down from 100 meter where it selected autonomously a landing site. As the commentator waited for it to begin the hover at the 30 m mark, he just said, “Chang’e 3 has landed”. Quite undramatic!