China to the Moon - Chang'e 1 and 2, Chinese unmanned lunar orbiters |
China to the Moon - Chang'e 1 and 2, Chinese unmanned lunar orbiters |
Aug 24 2006, 05:03 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 124 Joined: 23-March 06 Member No.: 723 |
Lunar Programme To Be Open To World
Although China is still in the "initial stage" in tapping the moon and outer space when compared with the United States, Russia and Europe, the nation is catching up, Luan said. http://www.spacedaily.com/dragonspace.html The first phase of the Chang'e Project was solely accomplished by China through its own technology, products and designs, said Luan, former director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). However, lunar scientists from Europe, the United States and Russia have expressed their willingness to co-operate with China in its research of the moon and deep space exploration, he said. Chinese scientists are assembling, integrating and testing to ensure that the mission of the nation's first lunar explorer, Chang'e-1, goes smoothly, a top space official said yesterday. http://english.people.com.cn/200607/26/eng...726_286707.html "Fundamental development has been achieved in all five related systems ranging from the satellite, the rocket, tracking and control, ground applications and the launch centre since it was approved two years ago," said Sun Laiyan, head of the China National Space Administration. The lunar orbiter is scheduled to blast off next year from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sun said at the ongoing eighth International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) Conference in Beijing. The spacecraft will be 2350 kilograms in weight. According to the plan, the program will go through four phases. 1. Send a satellite to orbit the Moon 2. Conduct exploration on the surface of the moon through the soft landing of a detector. 3. Collect Moon surface samples using a robot, which will then return to the Earth. 4. Manned missions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang'e_program According to the schedule, detailed program design of the first step will be completed by September 2004. Research and development of a prototype probe and relevant testing of the probe will be finished before the end of 2005. Design, manufacture, general assembly, test and ground experiments of the lunar probe satellite will be finished before December 2006. In 2007 the Chang'e 1 will blast off. |
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Mar 2 2009, 05:13 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Although, I have to wonder -- what are the odds against an unguided impact by Chang'e (or anything else, for that matter) hitting an area of historical importance?
How many of these locations are there? Six Apollo sites, five Surveyor sites, two Lunakhod sites, three Luna sample return sites and two simple Luna lander sites -- a total of 18 sites, over the entire surface area of the Moon. (This assumes you're not going to count impact sites -- many of them unidentified -- of other hardware, from Luna 2 through Chandrayaan's MIP. I find it hard to imagine a tourist viewing platform to observe what appears to be just another crater out of quadrillions, just because it was made by a man-made vehicle. Though I might make an exception for Luna 2.) I understand that a vehicle in polar orbit does eventually overfly most all of the Moon. But that also means it has the entire surface area of the whole body on which to impact, raising the odds significantly against an unguided impact coming within a hundred km of *any* given spot. The idea of historic site preservation is a good one, but I just have to wonder what the odds of an inadvertent impact really are... -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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