Chang'e 3 landing and first lunar day of operations, Including landing site geology and localization Options

[Explorer1]

But it doesn't have to be a single shot like Cernan's 1972 famous 'selfie' at all!
Yutu can just take a series of images from horizon up or Earth down and then have them stitched together vertically, like the folks on this forum do all the time! The main issue would be to avoid pointing the camera too close to the Sun...
It's not like there's a rush anyway; it can always be done next sol/month/lunar day (any standard vocabulary for us to use yet?).

[climber]

I believe the most dramatic iconic picture will be to have the Earth with either Yutu or the Lander in the same field of view...and I don't believe all pictures been taken so far have been released. If the geometry has been already right, we'll see such a picture in due time. If we don't, we know Mike can do it for us

[kenny]

I estimate around 40 degrees above the horizon, based on the co-ordinates of the intended landing site.

You can calculate the Earth altitude in the sky from the landing site co-ordinates, as I did earlier. Since the actual landing site was a little closer to the
sub-Earth point than planned, it may be a little higher than this. Someone may need to check my rusty maths.

<Cernan did not take a proper "selfie". That picture was taken by Jack Schmitt.>
Admin: Subsequent posts on this were moved to the Junk Drawer. As a member pointed out the discussion is "ridiculously off topic".

[Paolo]

first data from the IR spectrometer
http://www.sitp.ac.cn/xwzx/kydt/201312/t20...24_4003884.html

[bobik]

first data from the IR spectrometer
http://www.sitp.ac.cn/xwzx/kydt/201312/t20...24_4003884.html

and in the News: http://v.qq.com/page/y/0/g/y0013eglj5g.html

[SFJCody]

This image has been seen before, but not at this resolution without the CCTV ident.

http://news.cnblogs.com/n/196533/

[Astro0]

New UMSF member Gofar contributed (via PM to the admin/mod team) this translation from a Chinese news report.
Thanks Gofar for your efforts. (Parts of this were reported in the 'Yutu Route Map' thread).

-------
Xinhua news agency
24th December
Where will Jade Rabbit go to next?
The Chang’'e 3 lander and moon lunar rover are still in intense work. Beijing spaceflight control center has completed the hibernation setup, and beginning from December 25th, they will enter a dormant state.

Reporters at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center were informed that on the 23rd to 24th December, the lander’s topography (terrain)camera completed the panorama within 24 hours imaging five pans at different pitch angles. The original plan was to complete only one panorama in a day. Deputy Director, Wu Fenglei of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center said the lander will be scheduled around 7:00 in the morning on the 25th into the lunar night sleep mode and the lunar rover will start its lunar night sleep around 1:00 on the 26th December.

Where to go?
It is reported that scientists have screened several objectives of interest including: a large stone pyramid southwest about 42 meters from the lander, which scientists have never seen before; an area of high ground in the west direction, overlooking the surrounding environment; and a crater more than 10 meters at the north.

It is reported that scientists have screened several targets of interest. Chang’'e 3 lunar probe Deputy Chief Jia Yang said, “We will actively meet the needs (demands) of the scientists while considering the engineering technology to ensure the smooth implementation of the rover’s safety and subsequent task of target selection.” “We have to consider the ability of the lunar rover and also consider that 26thDecember will usher in the first ‘lunar night’ after landing on the Moon and find a suitable terrain for the rover’s hibernation. So where (to hibernate), is a combination of opinions from scientists and engineers’.

Are you ready?
After the 15th December landing, the rover separated from the Chang’'e 3 lander and inspected it from the north, then driving south along the sunny eastside. The inspections were completed in five locations with the lander and rover imaging each other. Ground control personnel have been planning and controlling use of the panoramic camera on the rover over the past few days the moon, taking shots around the landing area and have generated three-dimensional topographic maps.

Currently the lunar rover is in the testing phase. In the process of moving to several points, the moon radar was also tested to ensure that it’s working. "We want to confirm that each of the rover functions are normal." Jia Yang said.

Rover Mission Planning Manager (Inspection task planning technical director) Li Qunzhi said "So far, the real situation of the lunar surface with our pre-drill on the ground too much like, before suggesting that we carried out in the field, field experiments have played a significant role, so we do not have too much pressure".

How to go?
In determining the direction of a big goal, that is, after the strategic plan, the rover's remote operators need to do more detail planning.

“We want (the drives) to be divided into intervals of 7-10 meters, planning out the sequence according to the information we get from the panoramic camera," Jia Yang said. The remote operators do path tactical planning, addressing how to reach a point 7-10 meters away, with the main consideration being the terrain conditions.

The goal is to rely on the determination of the panoramic camera, which is characterized by a smaller field of view, but the high resolution can obtain high accuracy of the topography within 30 meters. The path of 7-10 meter planning relies on the navigation camera, planning travel routes. After the path planning, remote operators run a simulation on a computer with a digital lunar rover, to test the results and confirm the plan is correct.

[Explorer1]

So basically identical to the MER and Curiosity sol planning method? Fascinating in its similarity, but if it ain't broke...
Pass on our thanks to Gofar!

[Gofar]

Lastest news to share with the JRabbit fans here ,

by Gofar

From Xinhua Agency ,1013-12-25,Jade Rabbit is going to hibernate in the first coming moon night.
So Merry Christmas to everybody here who cares about it and wish the Rabbit can surive the cold nights on the moon.
Tomorrow, the moon three lander and moon lunar rover will usher in the first "moon moon after". Because there will be no sun to provide energy, at the same time to resist the moonlit night of minus 180 degrees Celsius, the lander and rover will successively in the morning and tomorrow morning into the moonlit night sleep, time will last about half a month.

月球车除了完成科学探测的任务外，还要经受月午和月夜两种极端恶劣环境的考验。月午是月面受太阳光照射比较强烈的时间，届时月面温度高达100多摄氏度，为保护科学仪器，月球车要“午休”。而当月夜到来时，由于没有任何太阳光照射，月面温度将降到零下180多摄氏度，“玉兔号”将面临低温的考验。

In addition to the completion of Scientific Exploration Rover Mission, but also endure the noon and night on two kinds of extreme harsh environment test. Afternoon is the lunar month light from the sun is strong time, when the surface temperature up to 100 degrees Celsius, for the protection of scientific instruments, the lunar rover must "break". And when the night comes, because there is no sunlight, the lunar surface temperature will drop to minus 180 degrees Celsius, "rabbit" will face the low temperature test.

据北京航天飞行控制中心相关负责人介绍，按预定计划，着陆器将于今天早上7点左右进入月夜休眠；月球车紧随其后，将于后天凌晨1点左右开始月夜休眠。它们这一觉要睡半个月左右，大约于明年1月12日“醒来”，继续工作。

According to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center related to the person in charge, according to the schedule, the lander will sleep in the morning and 7 pm to enter the moon; lunar rover followed, the day after 1 a.m. start night sleep. They had to sleep for about half a month, about in January 12th next year to "wake up", continue to work.

据了解，为提高科学探测和月面测试效率，地面科技人员近两日逐渐加大了着陆器和月球车的工作强度。月球车已经完成了红外光谱仪加电、原地转弯等一系列月面测试工作。在开始月夜休眠之前，它们需要完成休眠前的全部状态设置。

It is understood, in order to improve the scientific exploration and lunar test efficiency, the ground nearly two technical personnel, gradually increase the work intensity lander and rover. The rover has completed the infrared spectrometer with electricity, swerve and a series of lunar test. Before the start of the night sleep, they need to complete the state before dormancy settings.

[Explorer1]

I wonder how useful it would be to position the rover on an east-facing slope each 'evening', so it can get sunlight on its panels a few hours earlier the next month. Crater edges are easy enough to find, and we know how important tilt was for surviving Martian winters. Yutu has to face such conditions every 14, rather than 300 days! Might as well get whatever benefits they can from the environment.

[Phil Stooke]

As I see it, one panel is closed over the warm camera compartment, so it's not available. The other can be tilted anyway, so all the rover has to do is turn so that panel points east and tilt it down to catch the morning sun.

MER's issue was not being able to tilt its panels without tilting the whole rover.

Phil

[Paolo]

a paper in Chinese on the thermal design of the APXS instrument on Yutu. also gives some detail of the RHUs
Thermal Control Design and Simulation Calculation of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer

Meanwhile, Yutu and the CE3 lander both went to sleep
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2013...c_132998160.htm

[iwantastarship]

There's a bit about where to position the rover for it's nap, I hope I translated this right.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-12/25/c...?prolongation=1

嫦娥三号月球探测器副总设计师贾阳说：“对于月夜休眠点，我们有三个方面的要求：一是车头要朝南稍偏东，二是希望月球车头高尾低，这两点都比较容易实现。最困难的是第三点，要求车体的左右侧倾在负２度到正１度之间。”

There are 3 requirements for the rover's resting spot, firstly the head of the rover must face south east, secondly, the head of the rover should be higher than the end, theses two requirements are easier to meet. Thirdly and the most difficult requirement to fulfill, the incline between the rover's left and right should be between 1-2 degrees.

The article then talks about not finding a suitable spot and getting the rover to 'dig a hole(ditch?trench?)'.

“我们通过轮子前后打转的方式，来满足月球车的姿态要求。”贾阳说：“目前‘玉兔’位于着陆器南方４０多米处，调整姿态前，它过于左倾，我们让它的右侧车轮沿不同方向打转，让车体向右倾斜了大约３度。”

We had the wheels spin to meet the requirements(of the resting spot). Currently Yutu is 40m south of the lander, before the adjustments, it was overly inclined towards the left, we had the wheels spinning in different directions in order for the rover to slant approximately 3 degrees to the right.

[Phil Stooke]

Interesting! 40 m south... so it has moved south again in the last few days - probably close to the bottom of my map and closer to the big rock it will look at after it wakes up.

I hope we will see pictures with a lower sun angle soon.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

we were discussing images of Earth from Chang'E 3 earlier. This might be one:



(top left ) in a screenshot from here:

http://tv.sohu.com/20131226/n392438358.shtml

Phil