China’s lunar probe has entered lunar orbit.
China’s lunar probe has entered lunar orbit.
The rover Yutu is scheduled to descend to the surface on December 14.
Tag: Moon
China has successfully launched its first rover mission to the Moon.
China has successfully launched its first rover mission to the Moon.
Touchdown on the Moon is scheduled for December 14. If they succeed, it will be the first softlanding on the Moon since 1976.
China next lunar mission, set to launch next month, will have a rover named “Yutu”.
China’s next lunar mission, set to launch next month, will have a rover named “Yutu”.
In Chinese folklore, Yutu is the white pet rabbit of Chang’e, the moon goddess who has lent her name to the Chinese lunar mission. Legend has it that, after swallowing a magic pill, Chang’e took her pet and flew toward the moon, where she became a goddess, and has lived there with the white jade rabbit ever since.
Chang’e 2 is the name of the entire mission.
Some spectacular oblique images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have been released.
Some spectacular oblique images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have been released.
The top three images are all oblique. Make sure you click through to the full caption of each image to get more information.
The Lunar Alps image is especially interesting to those who have ever explored the Moon with a telescope from Earth. The rill shown is well known to amateurs, as are the Montes Alpes, or Alps Mountains, adjacent to it. From Earth that rill definitely looks like a meandering river canyon. This LRO image resolves it into a canyon made up of a series of crater-like depressions, a geological feature quite different from the river canyons of Earth.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter inaugurates a new website of its images of the landing or impact sites of every human vehicle to arrive or crash on the Moon.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter inaugurates a new website of its images of the landing or impact sites of every human vehicle to arrive or crash on the Moon.
I found the site because they have a new release of images of the impact crater produced when Ranger 7 hit the Moon on July 28, 1964.
In an engineering test, LADEE successfully used a laser to beam information back from the Moon this past weekend.
In an engineering test, LADEE successfully used a laser to beam information back from the Moon this past weekend.
Lasers could enhance space communications and lead to radical changes in spacecraft design. Today’s spacecraft communicate with radio, but radiofrequency wavelengths are so long that they require large dishes to capture the signals. Laser wavelengths are 10,000 times shorter than radio, the upshot being that a spacecraft could deliver much more data then even the best modern radio system. For scale, NASA says that the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft that’s carrying this laser experiment would take 639 hours to download an average-length HD movie using ordinary S-band communications. LLCD could download the film in less than eight minutes.
LADEE has now slipped out of Earth orbit and into its first wide lunar orbit.
LADEE has now slipped out of Earth orbit and into its first wide lunar orbit.
Over time the spacecraft will slowly tighten its orbit.
China today unveiled its first unmanned lunar rover, set for a December launch, and announced a competition for the public to name it.
The competition heats up: China today unveiled its first unmanned lunar rover, set for a December launch, and announced a competition for the public to name it.
NASA engineers have successfully fixed the glitch on the LADEE spacecraft.
NASA engineers have successfully fixed the glitch on the LADEE spacecraft.
NASA’s lunar probe LADEE was successfully launched tonight from Wallops Island.
NASA’s lunar probe LADEE was successfully launched tonight from Wallops Island.
Update: A computer glitch occurred shortly after reaching orbit, causing the computer to shut down the spacecraft’s reaction wheels.
Engineers seem unworried, and expect to have the problem solved within a couple of days.
How to view the east coast launch on Septembert 6 of LADEE.
How to view the east coast launch on Septembert 6 of LADEE.
LADEE will attempt to solve the leftover question from the Apollo-era: Does the surface dust on the Moon levitate? The question is real, and the consequences could be significant for future lunar settlements.
China’s first unmanned lunar lander is now scheduled for launch before the end of the year.
The competition heats up: China’s first unmanned lunar lander is now scheduled for launch before the end of the year.
This mission is the second stage in their long term plans for unmanned lunar exploration. It began with an orbiter which mapped the surface in high detail, followed now by a lander, which will then be followed by a sample return mission.