Chinese Moon Landing Mission Launched Today

[Caruso]

The Chinese have launched a mission to soft land a rover on the moon. The first soft landing for 30 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2517...

The rover is called Jade Rabbit.

[Eric Mc]

They are on their way.
It's the first rover to go to the moon since the 1970s.

[Manicminer]

I just saw this on the BBC site myself, how the heck did I miss this going on.

Pretty special if they pull it off.

[Simpo Two]

Caruso said:

The rover is called Jade Rabbit.

Jade Labbit surely?

[Eric Mc]

Artists image of the rover driving off the landing stage. The lander looks very similar in concept to the Apollo Lunar Module descent stage - although it's obviously smaller.



It's the first attempt at a controlled landing on the moon since 1976. Far too long a gap.

I'm quite excited by this.

[Simpo Two]

Takes two weeks to get there. I suppose they use lower speed to save fuel, unlike manned missions.

Do we think the Chinese are doing this for national prestige, or as a prelude to a manned mission, or are they eyeing up the moon as the next place to get minerals from?

[Eric Mc]

All of the above.

There is a bit of a Space Race going on between India and China at the moment.

Good fun this.

[funkyrobot]

Simpo Two said:

Takes two weeks to get there. I suppose they use lower speed to save fuel, unlike manned missions.

Do we think the Chinese are doing this for national prestige, or as a prelude to a manned mission, or are they eyeing up the moon as the next place to get minerals from?

I think they have plans to put a manned station on the moon.

Edited to add - posted at the same time as Eric.

[scubadude]

Eric Mc said:

Artists image of the rover driving off the landing stage. The lander looks very similar in concept to the Apollo Lunar Module descent stage - although it's obviously smaller.



It's the first attempt at a controlled landing on the moon since 1976. Far too long a gap.

I'm quite excited by this.

Lander looks excessive for the payload, wonder if its the core design for a man capable lander to follow?

Good luck to them.

[Eric Mc]

scubadude said:

Lander looks excessive for the payload, wonder if its the core design for a man capable lander to follow?

Interesting observation.

The mission was fired straight at the moon. It didn't enter a parking orbit around the earth first.

[ewenm]

Simpo Two said:

Caruso said:

The rover is called Jade Rabbit.

Jade Labbit surely?

It's called Yutu.

Good stuff from the Chinese and Indians recently. It's nice to be around for a space race rather than just reading about it historically.

[Eric Mc]

According to Chinese legend, a giant rabbit lives on the moon. As Apollo 11 was making its way to the moon in 1969., mission controllers at Houston reminded the crew to look out for the rabbit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC5uRM6TpRM

[scubadude]

Eric Mc said:

The mission was fired straight at the moon. It didn't enter a parking orbit around the earth first.

Yes. Is that another indication that the hardware can probably lift more than this?

[Einion Yrth]

scubadude said:

Eric Mc said:

The mission was fired straight at the moon. It didn't enter a parking orbit around the earth first.

Yes. Is that another indication that the hardware can probably lift more than this?

The fact that it's taking so long to get there implies that it's using a low energy transfer orbit, which would suggest the opposite.

[Eric Mc]

It's not taking long to get there. It will arrive at the moon and go into lunar orbit on 5 December (i.e. tomorrow) - according to Spaceflight Now.

The LANDING isn't scheduled until December 14.

[Einion Yrth]

Eric Mc said:

It's not taking long to get there. It will arrive at the moon and go into lunar orbit on 5 December (i.e. tomorrow) - according to Spaceflight Now.

The LANDING isn't scheduled until December 14.

Fair enough, misread that.

[Eric Mc]

Going directly to the moon is a common method. Many of the very earliest moon probes - such as the Ranger series in the early 60s, were sent to the moon in this way.

[Einion Yrth]

Eric Mc said:

Going directly to the moon is a common method. Many of the very earliest moon probes - such as the Ranger series in the early 60s, were sent to the moon in this way.

Much less call for parking orbits and system checks with robots, they have no next of kin.

[Eric Mc]

It's also simpler - which was a big factor in the early days of the space programme.

The technique is also used for planetary probes. The problem is that it leaves little margin for correcting errors.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

So will they find evidence of any previous visitors then?