Yutu-2 travels almost 300 meters on ninth lunar day
According to a story today in official Chinese state-run media, Yutu-2 traveled another 284.99 meters during its ninth lunar day on the surface of the Moon, and has now been placed in hibernation in order to survive the long lunar night.
The story provides no further information, including saying nothing about the strange and unusual material the rover supposedly spotted during this time period.
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
According to a story today in official Chinese state-run media, Yutu-2 traveled another 284.99 meters during its ninth lunar day on the surface of the Moon, and has now been placed in hibernation in order to survive the long lunar night.
The story provides no further information, including saying nothing about the strange and unusual material the rover supposedly spotted during this time period.
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
That comes to three meters an hour. I wonder why it is so slow.
For the same reason Curiosity is, I suppose – limited or no ability to conduct autonomous driving combined with considerable caution on the part of its handlers. Zipping around could tip it over or put it into some small ground declivity not easily spotted if moving faster. The latter sort of mishap could trap it.
It could be the gearing is involved. For a given motor (and the size is limited by everything else the rover needs, you want more instruments, maybe motor and battery size need to go down), the lower the gearing, the greater the torque, but the lower the speed. You’re not trying to set speed records here and the more torque you have, the steeper the slope you can ascend and, perhaps, the easier to get you out of awkward situations.
Hmm. Because our robotic rovers do not travel so fast, maybe we would get more exploration for our buck if we had humans doing the exploration. They move much faster, make their own decisions on the spot, but they cost a bit more to get there and back again.