China Just Released True Color HD Photos Of The Moon

[Place Of Space]

It's on the opposite side of the moon...and Yutu can't move...it locked up soon after rolling off the lander.

The Yutu is very pity(it can't move now), we need to hug it back in near future.

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

Yutu Rover / Image Courtesy of Chinese Academy of Sciences / China National Space Administration / The Science and Application Center for Moon and Deepspace Exploration / Emily Lakdawalla

The images were taken a few years ago by cameras on the Chang’e 3 lander and Yutu rover. In December of 2013, China joined the ranks of Russia and the United States when they successfully soft-landed on the lunar surface, becoming the third country ever to accomplish this feat.

What made China’s mission especially remarkable was that it was the first soft-landing on the moon in 37 years, since the Russians landed their Luna 24 probe back in 1976.

Today, anyone can create a user account on China’s Science and Application Center for Moon and Deepspace Exploration website to download the pictures themselves. The process is a bit cumbersome and the connection to the website is spotty if you’re accessing it outside of China.

Luckily, Emily Lakdawalla from the Planetary Society spent the last week navigating the Chinese database and is currently hosting a suite of China’s lunar images on thePlanetary Society Website.

Yutu rover tracks / Image courtesy of Chinese Academy of Sciences / China National Space Administration / The Science and Application Center for Moon and Deepspace Exploration / Emily Lakdawalla

Lunar surface / Image courtesy of Chinese Academy of Sciences / China National Space Administration / The Science and Application Center for Moon and Deepspace Exploration / Emily Lakdawalla

Chang’e 3, named after the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology, was a follow-up mission to Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 which were both lunar orbiters. The objective of the Chang’e 3 mission was to demonstrate the key technologies required for a soft moon landing and rover exploration. The mission was also equipped with a telescope and instruments to perform geologic analysis of the lunar surface.

Chang’e 3 lunar landing location / Image courtesy of NASA

Once the 1,200 kg Chang’e lander reached the surface at a location known as Mare Imbrium, it deployed the 140 kg Yutu rover, whose name translates to “Jade Rabbit.” The Yutu rover was equipped with 6 wheels, a radar instrument, and x-ray, visible and near-infrared spectrometers (instruments that can measure the intensity of different wavelengths of light). Yutu’s geologic analysis suggested that the lunar surface is less homogeneous than originally thought.

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the Chang’e Lander (large white dot) and Yutu Rover (smaller white dot) / Image courtesy of NASA, GSFC, and Arizona State University

Due to Yutu’s inability to properly shield itself from the brutally cold lunar night, it experienced serious mobility issues in early 2014 and was left unable to move across the surface. Remarkably, however, Yutu retained the ability to collect data, send and receive signals, and record images and video up until March of 2015.

Today, the Yutu lander, which provided the mission capability of sending and receiving Earth transmissions, is no longer operational.

China’s follow-up mission, Chang’e 4 is scheduled to launch as early as 2018 and plans to land on the far side of the moon. If this happens, China will become the first nation to land a probe on the lunar far side.

With the Chang’e series, China has shown that, unlike NASA, their focus is on lunar, rather than Martian, exploration. But they’re not the only ones that have their sights set on the moon. Through the Google Lunar Xprize, a number of private companies are building spacecraft designed to soft-land on the lunar surface in the next few years.

One of those companies, Moon Express, plans to be the first ever private company to land a spacecraft on the moon and has already secured a launch for their spacecraft in 2017.

It’s been nearly 40 years since anyone soft-landed a spacecraft on the moon. This next decade, however, is set to see a wave of lunar exploration like we’ve never experienced. With the China National Space Administration focusing their resources on lunar probes, and private companies planning to profit off of lunar resources, the moon is about to become a much busier destination.

FEATURED IMAGE: CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES / CHINA NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION / THE SCIENCE AND APPLICATION CENTER FOR MOON AND DEEPSPACE EXPLORATION / EMILY LAKDAWALLA

The soil looks moist.

 

[Jlaw]

Why haven't the Americans gone back to the Moon? Did the aliens shooo them away?

I've been asking this question for ages. Apparently NASA engineers had to go to the museum and try and learn the technology Appollo used in '67 to try and get back to the moon . This makes no sense unless man never made it to the moon in 1967

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I've been asking this question for ages. Apparently NASA engineers had to go to the museum and try and learn the technology Appollo used in '67 to try and get back to the moon . This makes no sense unless man never made it to the moon in 1967

They have the plans but all the machinery to make the specific parts are gone. It's like trying to build a Ford from 1967. You may have all the plans but all the assembly lines and part companies are gone. If you had an original 1967 Ford infront of you it would make things easier.

Just imagine in 50 years trying to recreate a circuit board. The plans may say 2 model abcdef resistors. Now you have to figure out what the heck a model abcdef resistor is and hope the plans for that part is still around.

 

[C130]

Space X will go bankrupt before anything will go commercialize.

and how will it go bankrupt??

funny how a private company is doing things bigger/richer countries can only dream of (build a orbital rocket, and cheaply)

here is some good news for SpaceX

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/t...security-certification-us-air-force/79566092/

SpaceX will soon be launching U.S military satellites, and the government pays handsomely to launch those. which=$$ massive profit.

putting the Russians,French, and the Chinese out of business is what SpaceX is close to achieving.....


I look forward to the day when a Chinese company has it's satellite launched on a Falcon 9.

 

[Jlaw]

They have the plans but all the machinery to make the specific parts are gone. It's like trying to build a Ford from 1967. You may have all the plans but all the assembly lines and part companies are gone. If you had an original 1967 Ford infront of you it would make things easier.

Just imagine in 50 years trying to recreate a circuit board. The plans may say 2 model abcdef resistors. Now you have to figure out what the heck a model abcdef resistor is and hope the plans for that part is still around.

You think something that is so ground breaking that they would keep records and blue prints for it. But your analogy of the ford is incorrect as most modern cars can outperform a 1967 Ford easily. So given that analogy, even though the original blue prints may have been lost, current tech is so much more superior than 1967, there should be no issue building something using 1980s tech to go to the moon.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

You think something that is so ground breaking that they would keep records and blue prints for it. But your analogy of the ford is incorrect as most modern cars can outperform a 1967 Ford easily. So given that analogy, even though the original blue prints may have been lost, current tech is so much more superior than 1967, there should be no issue building something using 1980s tech to go to the moon.

?? They aren't using any of the 1960's Saturn V stuff for the new moon mission! They are using Space Shuttle engines (and smaller engines for the moon orbitor). This whole "they have to go to museums to measure Saturn V stuff" is outside of future programs. They just want to see if they can build one and put it through modern tests.

F1 engine. As you said it is old technology ( still very powerful but huge 5.8 meters tall, 8350kgs)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System

2 solid rocket boosters (each one over 2x the power of an F1)

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_main_engine (4.3 meters tall, 3527kgs, Note the space shuttle only used 3)

The moon launcher will use 4 of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RL10 engines (4 meters tall, 310kgs)

 

[Pulsar]

I've been asking this question for ages. Apparently NASA engineers had to go to the museum and try and learn the technology Appollo used in '67 to try and get back to the moon . This makes no sense unless man never made it to the moon in 1967

Can you imagine the Yanks landed on the Moon with a computer that had less computing power than an ordinary low end calculator? I think they never landed on the Moon. It's a conspiracy of gargantuan proportions!!

 

[Nan Yang]

?? They aren't using any of the 1960's Saturn V stuff for the new moon mission! They are using Space Shuttle engines (and smaller engines for the moon orbitor). This whole "they have to go to museums to measure Saturn V stuff" is outside of future programs. They just want to see if they can build one and put it through modern tests.
View attachment 291284
F1 engine. As you said it is old technology ( still very powerful but huge 5.8 meters tall, 8350kgs)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System

2 solid rocket boosters (each one over 2x the power of an F1)

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_main_engine (4.3 meters tall, 3527kgs, Note the space shuttle only used 3)

View attachment 291281
The moon launcher will use 4 of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RL10 engines (4 meters tall, 310kgs)

The SLS still use the old Space Shuttle Hydrogen engines. NASA just using a cheaper option instead of developing a new engine. This will not be good in the long run. Hydrogen engines will makes the launch expensive due to the infrastructure to maintain the fuel at crazy low temperature.

Kerosene engine are the future because of its high thrust and cheaper infrastructure. China already sucessfully launch their CZ-6 last year. This is also why the Saturn F1 kerosene engine is being brought back from the museum. Ha ha ha.

Same with your Delta Heavy using Hydrogen engines for both the 1st stage and the two boosters. Making each Delta Heavy launch way too expensive.

Your other launcher Atlas does use a kerosene engine, but its Russian!!!

What a mess!

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The SLS still use the old Space Shuttle Hydrogen engines. NASA just using a cheaper option instead of developing a new engine. This will not be good in the long run. Hydrogen engines will makes the launch expensive due to the infrastructure to maintain the fuel at crazy low temperature.

Kerosene engine are the future because of its high thrust and cheaper infrastructure. China already sucessfully launch their CZ-6 last year. This is also why the Saturn F1 kerosene engine is being brought back from the museum. Ha ha ha.

Same with your Delta Heavy using Hydrogen engines for both the 1st stage and the two boosters. Making each Delta Heavy launch way too expensive.

Your other launcher Atlas does use a kerosene engine, but its Russian!!!

What a mess!

Well SpaceX is not using liquid hydrogen so there is something positive to be said about your argument.

However the Russians are moving to LOX/LH2 engines...
This is one of their newest which will be used in future manned spacecraft:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-0146

I'm beginning to think the Russians allowed the US to use their RD180 engines in exchange for helping them develop a liquid hydrogen engine.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/hydrogen/hydrogen_fuel_of_choice.html
"In combination with an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen yields the highest specific impulse, or efficiency in relation to the amount of propellant consumed, of any known rocket propellant."..."Lack of Soviet liquid-hydrogen technology proved a serious handicap in the race of the two superpowers to the Moon"

 

[gambit]

Can you imagine the Yanks landed on the Moon with a computer that had less computing power than an ordinary low end calculator?

Easily. People seems to think that a certain level of computing power means there must be a matching level of computing task. That is not true, never have been, and never will be. What NASA used to get to the Moon was all that NASA felt was needed. In retrospect, we can say that NASA may have underestimated or even wrong on that hardware estimation, however, that does not mean the idea that using just what you need is wrong, especially when weight is always a factor.

I think they never landed on the Moon. It's a conspiracy of gargantuan proportions!!

Sure...

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35411684

The Moon landing hoax, for instance, began in 1965 and would have involved about 411,000 Nasa employees. With these parameters, Dr Grimes's equation suggests that the hoax would have been revealed after 3.7 years.

Additionally, since the Moon landing hoax is now more than 50 years old, Dr Grimes's equation predicts that, at most, only 251 conspirators could have been involved.

Thus, it is more reasonable to believe that the Moon landing was real.

 

[Nan Yang]

The Russian are moving to LOX/LH2 engines...
This is one of their newest which will be used in future manned spacecraft:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-0146

I'm beginning to think the Russians allowed the US to use their RD180 engines in exchange for helping them develop a liquid hydrogen engine.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/hydrogen/hydrogen_fuel_of_choice.html
"In combination with an oxidizer such as liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen yields the highest specific impulse, or efficiency in relation to the amount of propellant consumed, of any known rocket propellant."..."Lack of Soviet liquid-hydrogen technology proved a serious handicap in the race of the two superpowers to the Moon"

The best configuration is Kerosene for the first stage and Hydrogen for the upper stages. Your link clearly says the Russian RP-0146 is for the upper stages.

"Application engine for KVTK upper stage"
In 2009, it came into prominence, as Russian space agency chose it for the second-stage of the Rus-M launch vehicle

This is Russia's latest and greatest.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angara_(rocket_family)

URM-1: first stage and boostersEdit
The Universal Rocket Module (URM-1) forms the core of every Angara vehicle. In the Angara A5, four additional URM-1s act as boosters. Each URM-1 is powered by a single NPO Energomash RD-191 burning liquid oxygen and RP-1 (kerosene).[13]

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The best configuration is Kerosene for the first stage and Hydrogen for the upper stages. Your link clearly says the Russian RP-0146 is for the upper stages.

"Application engine for KVTK upper stage"
In 2009, it came into prominence, as Russian space agency chose it for the second-stage of the Rus-M launch vehicle

This is Russia's latest and greatest.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angara_(rocket_family)

URM-1: first stage and boostersEdit
The Universal Rocket Module (URM-1) forms the core of every Angara vehicle. In the Angara A5, four additional URM-1s act as boosters. Each URM-1 is powered by a single NPO Energomash RD-191 burning liquid oxygen and RP-1 (kerosene).[13]

Well it looks like they finally found the happy middle ground. They give us the first stage engines and we help them with the upper.

 

[yantong1980]

Again, I laughed at your ignorant of international law.

Said many time, mining the moon or building bases on moon is ILLEGAL for any country as per UN Space Law. Otherwise US would had colonized moon a long time ago, and will not be anything to mine for anyone now. You can ask Jack Ma to do it for China, but seems like Elon Musk will be there before him.

Thanks for remind me with your laughing, you said illegal and breaching international when China did that, but you expect US SpaceX boss Elon Musk will be the first before Jack Ma? Are you kidding?

 

[jhungary]

Thanks for remind me with your laughing, you said illegal and breaching international when China did that, but you expect US SpaceX boss Elon Musk will be the first before Jack Ma? Are you kidding?

NASA did not and will not start colonisation of Moon and Mars and to be expected to conform with the outer space treaty, unless China or anyone else broke it first, so, no, not just when China did that is illegal, if US did that, it would be illegal too. But that particular treaty only limited the governmental space agency, not private venture.

And lol, Do you even know how Elon Musk's SpaceX fares?

They have a successful returnable launch vehicle, meaning they have a launch vehicle that can return to earth, meaning they can already launch man into space, but they wanted it to be "REUSABLE" instead of Returnable. And they also need a lunar landing module

In term of SpaceX space achievement, it is basically comparable to Chinese National Space Agency, both have a returnable rocket, both are able to launch man in space, they have the same achievement in term of space exploration, along with Bready Branson's Virgin Galactic.

While Jack Ma did not even have his space company, how the heck would they be able to catch Space X and Virgin when both were started in 1990s (Which is 10-15 years ago) and also, both have help from NASA, which was the only organisation that been to the moon? If we look at it like this, if NASA help were a bit more generous, Space X or Virgin may even be beating Chinese CNSA to the moon. Because the Chinese own estimate is 2020 while the Space X own estimate is 2025, and we all know NASA only helped a little.