China's Chang'e-4 probe soft-lands on moon's far side - Xinhua

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1084382042178183168

CGTN✔@CGTNOfficial
A press conference on the #ChangE4 will be held at 3:00 p.m. Monday by China's State Council Information Office. Officials from the China National Space Administration, scientists of China Lunar Exploration Program will answer questions from reporters. Stay tuned to CGTN
5:30 PM - Jan 13, 2019

 

[LKJ86]

 

[JSCh]

littquan
今天 08:00 来自 微博 weibo.com
【嫦娥四号究竟落在哪里了？玉兔二号现在走到哪里了？

】看到大家分析了嫦娥四号月背软着陆的精确位置，我也献一下丑，把我前两天分析的结果发出来，欢迎批评指正，记得点开大图观看。以下结果主要是基于对比LRO图像和嫦娥四号降落相机拍摄的降落视频、地形地貌相机拍摄的全景图，并加了标尺和玉兔二行驶路线等。
图1：LRO网站公布的对比图片，红色箭头为嫦娥四号着陆位置，方框为1000m x 1000m。
图2：LRO vs 降落相机，方框范围为200m x 200m。
图3：着陆点进一步放大图，蓝色小方框与嫦娥四号的大小基本一致，数字为撞击坑编号，比如着陆点南面快被大家玩坏了的那个大坑是3号。可见嫦娥四号恰好落在了3个直径20米左右的大撞击坑围成的一小块平地上，可谓非常惊险！！！

降落算法为什么选择这么一个地方而不是附近几十米外更平整的地方，这是一个有趣的问题，

但另一方面也说明了算法的成功。
图4：着陆点、兔子行驶路线和两器互拍位置示意图。兔子午休前后一共走了大概40m，绕过了若干个大坑小坑，顺利完成两器互拍。

现在着陆点快进入月夜了，嫦娥兔子应该都已经休息了。希望他们醒来后努力工作，兔子能走得更好更远，取得更多原创性发现！

littquan
Today 08:00 from Weibo

[Where is Chang'e 4? Where is Yutu No. 2 now?] I saw the analysis of the precise location of the soft landing of Chang'e-4. I also offer my own, and the results of my previous two days of analysis. I welcome criticism and correction. Remember to click and open the big picture. The following results are mainly based on the comparison of LRO image and the landing video taken by the 嫦娥4 landing camera, the panoramic image taken by the topographical camera, with addition of ruler and the Yutu II driving route.

• Figure 1: Comparative picture published on the LRO website, the red arrow is the landing position of No. 4, and the box is 1000m x 1000m.
• Figure 2: LRO vs landing camera with a box range of 200m x 200m.
• Figure 3: The zoom point is further enlarged. The blue small box is basically the same size as the 嫦娥4, and the number is the crater number. For example, the big pit on the south side of the landing point is the famous one that everyone make fun out of with panda and dog. It can be seen that the No. 4 is just on a small piece of flat land surrounded by three large impact craters with a diameter of about 20 meters. It is very hair raising! ! ! [Surprised] Why did the landing algorithm choose such a place instead of a flatter area dozens of meters away? That is an interesting question, [smirking] but on the other hand, it illustrates the intelligence of the algorithm.
• Figure 4: Schematic diagram of the landing point, Yutu-2 driving route, and the position of 2-shots(where Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2 take photo of each other). Yutu-2 walked about 40m before and after the lunch break, bypassing a number of large pits and successfully completing the 2-shots. [中国赞]

Now the landing point is coming into the lunar night, and Yutu-2 would go to rest. I hope they can work hard after waking up, and the rabbit can go better and further and make more original discoveries!

 

[JSCh]

Can China grow a flower on the moon? The countdown begins | South China Morning Post
Chinese space agency to broadcast experiment that ‘could pave the way for human life in outer space’

PUBLISHED : Monday, 14 January, 2019, 3:25pm
UPDATED : Monday, 14 January, 2019, 3:25pm

William Zheng

In the 2015 blockbuster The Martian, Matt Damon plays an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and survives by growing potatoes, producing enough food to last months.

China’s lunar mission could bring that piece of science fiction a step closer to reality if it succeeds in growing the first flower on the moon in less than a hundred days’ time, an experiment that the China National Space Administration said it would soon broadcast.

When the Chang’e 4 spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon on January 3, its cargo included an airtight container known as a “moon surface micro-ecological circle”.

At 18cm high and 16cm in diameter, the aluminium alloy cylinder contains silkworm eggs and seeds for potatoes and a kind of cress.

It weighs only 3kg but cost more than 10 million yuan (about US$1.5 million) – the internal camera alone cost 600,000 yuan.

If all goes well, both plants will root and sprout in the container, producing the first flower on the surface of the moon towards the end of a 100-day experimental period, according to the space agency.

Meanwhile, the silkworm eggs will also complete the full life cycle, from hatching to turning into moths.

The plants would not be the first flowers grown in space though – on January 16, 2016, Nasa shared photographs of a zinnia in bloom in a plant system aboard the International Space Station, orbiting about 300km above the Earth.

Cultivating the plants won’t be easy – temperatures on the moon’s surface can go over 100 degrees Celsius (202 degrees Fahrenheit) in the day and drop to minus 100 degrees at night. Radiation from the sun and the lower gravity will also pose problems.

Professor Xie Gengxin, the Chinese scientist in charge of the lunar plant experiment, said that if successful, the project would signal that China was catching up in space exploration, state-run Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Xie said it would lay the foundation for humans to live in outer space.

Xie said the team had designed the container to maintain a temperature of between 1 and 30 degrees, allow in natural light and feed the plants with water and a nutrient solution.

The silkworms would consume the oxygen released by the plants, emit carbon dioxide and fertilise the plants with their dung, he said.

Xie said a similar experiment would be conducted on Earth for comparison.

 

[JSCh]

From the press conference of Chang'e-4 mission.

中国新闻社记者：
　　嫦娥四号是被誉为探月工程四期的首次任务，请问在接下来探月工程四期还有什么计划？未来中国的探月工程和深空探测还有哪些计划安排？

　　2019-01-14 15:40:00

　　吴艳华：
　　中国政府从启动探月工程以来，按照“绕、落、回”三步走实施，我们简称叫三期，刚才报告已经谈到了。最后“回”的标准，是以今年年底左右，嫦娥五号到月球正面取样回来作为标准，这样三步就算完成了。刚才大家也知道了，嫦娥四号本来是嫦娥三号的备份星，嫦娥三号成功以后，中国国家航天局组织国内国际科学家共同论证，实现了这次更有意义的人类首次探测活动，所以把嫦娥四号作为探月四期的首次任务。

　　国家航天局也正在组织国内专家对后续规划进行论证，基本明确还有三次任务。一个是嫦娥六号计划在月球南极进行采样返回，到底是月背还是正面，要根据嫦娥五号的采样情况来确定。嫦娥七号是在月球南极一次综合探测，包括刚才说对月球的地形地貌、物质成分、空间环境进行一次综合探测任务。嫦娥八号除了继续进行科学探测试验以外，还要进行一些关键技术的月面试验。中国、美国、俄罗斯和欧洲等国家都在论证，要不要在月球建立一个科研基地，或者科研站，比如说采用3D打印技术，能不能在月亮上利用月壤建房子等，我们要通过嫦娥八号验证部分技术，为以后各国一起共同构建月球科研基地，做一些前期探索。谢谢。

China News Agency reporter:

The No. 4 is the first mission to be known as the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project. What plans are there for the fourth phase of the next lunar exploration project? What are the plans for future lunar exploration projects and deep space exploration in China?​

2019-01-14 15:40:00
Wu Yanhua (vice-administrator of CNSA):

Since the launch of the lunar exploration project, the Chinese government has implemented the three steps of “orbit, land and return”. We call it three phase for short, like the report just now has mentioned. The final "return" phase is due at the end of this year, carried out by Chang'e-5, so that the three phase would be completed. Just like everyone knows that No. 4 was originally the backup of the Chang'e 3. After the success of the Chang'e 3, the China National Space Administration organized a joint discussion by domestic and international scientists to decide on and carry out the more meaningful pioneering far-side exploration activity. Chang'e 4 would then become the first mission of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project.

The National Space Administration is also organizing domestic experts to explore the follow-up plan, and currently it is basically clear that there will be three more tasks. One is No. 6 is plan to be sample return mission on the moon's south pole. Whether it is on moon front or far side, it should be determined according to the progress of the sampling mission of No. 5. No. 7 would be comprehensive exploration of the Moon's south pole, including a comprehensive exploration mission on the topography, material composition and environment of the Moon. In addition to continuing scientific testing, the No. 8 would carries out some lunar tests of key technologies. China, the United States, Russia and Europe are all investigating whether to build a research base or a research station on the moon, with technology such as 3D printing, can use material on the moon to build houses on site, etc. We wish to utilize No. 8 for verification of some of these technologies, for future countries to jointly build a lunar research base, do some preliminary exploration. Thank you.

 

[Kailash Kumar]

New VIDEO shows Chinese probe roaming the ‘dark side’ of the Moon

14 Jan, 2019

Chinese space agency has provided another peek into how its Chang’e 4 robotic probe is doing on the Moon after it became the first ever man-made craft to land of the unexplored far side of the Earth’s satellite.

In the footage, released on Chinese microblog Weibo, the rover is seen slowly driving on the greyish lunar surface and leaving deep tracks in the regolith. The vehicle then rotates on its four small wheels to show off the Chinese national flag to the camera, while a dramatic electronic soundtrack plays in the background.

Chang’e 4, named after the Chinese Moon goddess, touched down at the Von Karman Crater in South Pole-Aitken Basin on January 3. The probe has already sent a number of breathtaking photos from the ‘dark side’ of the Moon, a side that had been puzzling scientists for so long.

It’s been relatively unexplored due to always facing away from Earth and thus being shielded from radio frequencies. But China bypassed this complication by launching a relay satellite to keep in with touch Chang’e 4 last year.

The rover’s mission won’t only be about snapping cool pictures; it’s also scheduled to perform several experiments, including testing how plants will grow in the low-gravity environment, and exploring the moon’s poles in search of water and other resources.

https://www.rt.com/news/448807-china-chang-e-moon-probe/

 

[JSCh]

From the press conference of Chang'e-4 mission.

China News Agency reporter:

The No. 4 is the first mission to be known as the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project. What plans are there for the fourth phase of the next lunar exploration project? What are the plans for future lunar exploration projects and deep space exploration in China?​

2019-01-14 15:40:00
Wu Yanhua (vice-administrator of CNSA):

Since the launch of the lunar exploration project, the Chinese government has implemented the three steps of “orbit, land and return”. We call it three phase for short, like the report just now has mentioned. The final "return" phase is due at the end of this year, carried out by Chang'e-5, so that the three phase would be completed. Just like everyone knows that No. 4 was originally the backup of the Chang'e 3. After the success of the Chang'e 3, the China National Space Administration organized a joint discussion by domestic and international scientists to decide on and carry out the more meaningful pioneering far-side exploration activity. Chang'e 4 would then become the first mission of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project.

The National Space Administration is also organizing domestic experts to explore the follow-up plan, and currently it is basically clear that there will be three more tasks. One is No. 6 is plan to be sample return mission on the moon's south pole. Whether it is on moon front or far side, it should be determined according to the progress of the sampling mission of No. 5. No. 7 would be comprehensive exploration of the Moon's south pole, including a comprehensive exploration mission on the topography, material composition and environment of the Moon. In addition to continuing scientific testing, the No. 8 would carries out some lunar tests of key technologies. China, the United States, Russia and Europe are all investigating whether to build a research base or a research station on the moon, with technology such as 3D printing, can use material on the moon to build houses on site, etc. We wish to utilize No. 8 for verification of some of these technologies, for future countries to jointly build a lunar research base, do some preliminary exploration. Thank you.

China unveils follow-up lunar exploration missions
Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-14 20:39:13|Editor: Yang Yi

Deputy head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Wu Yanhua (C, back), secretary-general and spokesman of the CNSA Li Guoping (2nd R, back), chief designer of China's lunar program Wu Weiren (2nd L, back) and chief designer of the Chang'e-4 probe Sun Zezhou (1st R, back) attend a press conference on Chang'e-4 mission in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China will launch the Chang'e-5 probe by the end of this year to bring moon samples back to Earth, a senior official of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Monday.

The Chang'e-4 mission realized the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, and its success has inaugurated the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration program.

"Experts are still discussing and verifying the feasibility of subsequent projects, but it's confirmed that there will be another three missions after Chang'e-5," said Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the CNSA, at a press conference of the State Council Information Office.

According to Wu, the Chang'e-6 mission will be designed to bring samples back from the South Pole of the moon.

"Whether the probe will land on the near side or the far side of the moon, we will make the decision according to the performance of Chang'e-5," he said.

The Chang'e-7 mission will carry out comprehensive surveys around the South Pole, including studying terrain and landform, physical composition as well as the space environment in the region.

The Chang'e-8 mission, in addition to scientific surveys and experiments, will test key technologies to lay the groundwork for the construction of a science and research base on the moon.

China, the United States, Russia and some European countries all want to try out technologies needed for such a scientific lunar base. "For example, can we build houses on the moon with lunar soil using 3D printing technology?" Wu said.

"We hope that Chang'e-8 will help test some technologies, and do some exploring for the building of a joint lunar base shared by multiple countries," he said.

He also revealed that China will send a probe to Mars around 2020.

 

[JSCh]

Can China grow a flower on the moon? The countdown begins | South China Morning Post
Chinese space agency to broadcast experiment that ‘could pave the way for human life in outer space’

PUBLISHED : Monday, 14 January, 2019, 3:25pm
UPDATED : Monday, 14 January, 2019, 3:25pm

William Zheng

In the 2015 blockbuster The Martian, Matt Damon plays an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and survives by growing potatoes, producing enough food to last months.

China’s lunar mission could bring that piece of science fiction a step closer to reality if it succeeds in growing the first flower on the moon in less than a hundred days’ time, an experiment that the China National Space Administration said it would soon broadcast.

When the Chang’e 4 spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon on January 3, its cargo included an airtight container known as a “moon surface micro-ecological circle”.

At 18cm high and 16cm in diameter, the aluminium alloy cylinder contains silkworm eggs and seeds for potatoes and a kind of cress.

It weighs only 3kg but cost more than 10 million yuan (about US$1.5 million) – the internal camera alone cost 600,000 yuan.

If all goes well, both plants will root and sprout in the container, producing the first flower on the surface of the moon towards the end of a 100-day experimental period, according to the space agency.

Meanwhile, the silkworm eggs will also complete the full life cycle, from hatching to turning into moths.

The plants would not be the first flowers grown in space though – on January 16, 2016, Nasa shared photographs of a zinnia in bloom in a plant system aboard the International Space Station, orbiting about 300km above the Earth.

Cultivating the plants won’t be easy – temperatures on the moon’s surface can go over 100 degrees Celsius (202 degrees Fahrenheit) in the day and drop to minus 100 degrees at night. Radiation from the sun and the lower gravity will also pose problems.

Professor Xie Gengxin, the Chinese scientist in charge of the lunar plant experiment, said that if successful, the project would signal that China was catching up in space exploration, state-run Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Xie said it would lay the foundation for humans to live in outer space.

Xie said the team had designed the container to maintain a temperature of between 1 and 30 degrees, allow in natural light and feed the plants with water and a nutrient solution.

The silkworms would consume the oxygen released by the plants, emit carbon dioxide and fertilise the plants with their dung, he said.

Xie said a similar experiment would be conducted on Earth for comparison.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1084990451935932416

CGTN ✔@CGTNOfficial
#BREAKING The latest released experimental picture shows that cotton seeds carried on the Chang'e-4 probe have sprouted, marking the first biological experiment on the lunar surface #ChangE4
9:47 AM - Jan 15, 2019

 

[LKJ86]

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

Days 1,4 and 9

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

test evolution

Similar Exemple can

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

Screen shot from Chinese Toutiao app of micro ecosystem aboard Chang E 4 on moon

Plant culture is doable on Moon.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1085750362227625985

Yutu2 Rover@yutu2rover

Night is about to fall for the first time. It’s getting pretty cold now and we can’t charge our solar panels anymore. It’s about -180°C and big sis and I need to sleep for about 14 days.

She’s tucking me in my starry night blanket. Good night~

#ChangE4 #Yutu2 #JadeRabbit
5
12:07 PM - Jan 17, 2019

 

[powastick]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1085750362227625985

Yutu2 Rover@yutu2rover

Night is about to fall for the first time. It’s getting pretty cold now and we can’t charge our solar panels anymore. It’s about -180°C and big sis and I need to sleep for about 14 days.

She’s tucking me in my starry night blanket. Good night~

#ChangE4 #Yutu2 #JadeRabbit
5
12:07 PM - Jan 17, 2019

The are rumors that the battery failed, and the experiment won't last through the night. There are also claims the pics were taken on earth previously.

 

[JSCh]

China's moon cotton experiment ends in freezing lunar night
17 JAN 2019

CHONGQING UNIVERSITY/AFP/File /A cotton seedling sprouted in a mini biosphere on the far side of the moon, but is expected to die during the long lunar night​

A cotton seedling that sprouted on the moon has been left to die as China's historic lunar lander continues a freezing night-time nap that will last as long as two earth weeks, scientists said.

The Chinese space agency announced earlier this week that the seed had germinated inside a special canister aboard the Chang'e-4 probe, after the spacecraft on January 3 made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon.

The mini biosphere -- which operated for over 212 hours -- was shut down as planned on Saturday, said Chongqing University, which designed the experiment.

The lander also carried potato and arabidopsis seeds -- a plant of the mustard family -- as well as fruit fly eggs and yeast.

Temperatures inside the ecosystem were expected to plunge below minus 52 degrees Celsius (minus 61.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and the organisms will be "in a frozen state", the university said in a statement on Tuesday.

The experiment ended hours before Chang'e-4 entered "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night fell since the probe's landing. Temperatures plummet to about minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit).

A lunar night lasts for about two earth weeks, after which the probe is expected to wake up, the statement said.

"Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night," Xie Gengxin, who led the design of the experiment, told the official Xinhua news agency.

Once the temperatures start to rise next month, the organisms will be allowed to "slowly decompose" in the permanently sealed canister.

Chang'e-4 is also equipped with instruments developed by scientists from Sweden, Germany and China to study the lunar environment, cosmic radiation and the interaction between solar wind and the moon's surface.

The lander released a rover, dubbed Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit), that will perform experiments in the Von Karman Crater.

China's space agency said it is planning four more lunar missions, confirming the launch of a probe by the end of the year to bring back samples from the moon.

Beijing wants to establish a lunar research base one day, possibly using 3D printing technology to build facilities, the agency said Monday.



China's moon cotton experiment ends in freezing lunar night | AFP.com

The are rumors that the battery failed, and the experiment won't last through the night. There are also claims the pics were taken on earth previously.

Some of the pic with very visible plant stalk are probably pictures of the parallel system running in the lab in China.

The battery did not failed. The chief scientist during the news conference said that they did not bring the battery. The original design do have a big pack of battery, but for reason that the chief scientist did not explain (maybe weight issue?), the design has changed prior to the launch.