Chang’e-6’s lander successfully soft lands on far side of the Moon
Chang’e-6’s landing zone is indicated by the
red box, on the edge of Apollo Creater
(indicated by the wavy circle).
China today announced that today at 6:23 pm (Eastern) the lander of its Chang’e-6’s lunar orbiter successfully soft landed on far side of the Moon.
Teams will now begin initial checks of the lander’s systems and soon begin collecting samples. The lander will collect up to 2,000 grams of samples, using a scoop to grab surface regolith and a drill for subsurface material. Samples are expected to be sent into lunar orbit within around 48 hours. Chinese space authorities have yet to publish a timeline for the mission and its steps, however.
Once docked to the orbiter, the samples will get transferred to the return spacecraft, which will return to Earth and land in China, in the same manner as was done with its Chang’e-5 sample return mission in 2021. Unlike those earlier samples, which came from the Moon’s near side (where the Apollo and Soviet samples had come from), these new samples will be first obtained from the far side.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Chang’e-6’s landing zone is indicated by the
red box, on the edge of Apollo Creater
(indicated by the wavy circle).
China today announced that today at 6:23 pm (Eastern) the lander of its Chang’e-6’s lunar orbiter successfully soft landed on far side of the Moon.
Teams will now begin initial checks of the lander’s systems and soon begin collecting samples. The lander will collect up to 2,000 grams of samples, using a scoop to grab surface regolith and a drill for subsurface material. Samples are expected to be sent into lunar orbit within around 48 hours. Chinese space authorities have yet to publish a timeline for the mission and its steps, however.
Once docked to the orbiter, the samples will get transferred to the return spacecraft, which will return to Earth and land in China, in the same manner as was done with its Chang’e-5 sample return mission in 2021. Unlike those earlier samples, which came from the Moon’s near side (where the Apollo and Soviet samples had come from), these new samples will be first obtained from the far side.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The godless Chicom commies are doing some incredible stuff in space, but our NASA has them beat hands down when it comes to large, non-functioning, un-American bureaucracy.
Don‘t forget that the chi-coms hacked the entire database of the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. This is a triumph of American technology; the chi-coms are too backward to have figured this out on their own.
“This is a triumph of American technology; the chi-coms are too backward to have figured this out on their own.”
If only. On the earlier sample mission they did an autonomous rendezvous and docking while on the far side.
I don’t think JPL has figured out how to do that yet. Do not underestimate these guys. Back in the 60-and 70s Japan was considered backwards. It just takes one generation. The only advantage we may have over the Chinese is our inventive and entrepreneurial culture but we are rapidly loosing that.
The Chinese are quite inventive…half of all new tech papers I read come from there, KAIST, and any institution not taken over by sociologists.
Here, suits like Boeing don’t want to try new things.
It takes money.
You either put big money in space (public, private…whatever) or you fail.
I hope Trump sees the wisdom of including a strong space program is his campaign… in addition to jailing a lot of swamp rats!
Never underestimate an enemy.
And for as long as they are communist, they are the enemy.