Chang'e 5 sample return mission |
Chang'e 5 sample return mission |
Oct 17 2014, 03:10 PM
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#31
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Member Group: Members Posts: 127 Joined: 3-September 12 From: Almeria, SE Spain Member No.: 6632 |
A very detailed report about Chang'e-5 Test Vehicle at Spaceflight101.
They call it "Chang'e 5-T1", but I wonder if the "T1" is really official. With respect to Chang'e-4, I found at nasaspaceflight.com the following post (« Reply #38 on: 10/16/2014 11:53 PM ») from User "Blackstar": QUOTE So I conversed a bit with a reporter about this issue. He says that he has a source who has provided some information on the CE-4 mission (lander/rover) and will be writing an article about that soon. So maybe we will learn something new soon. I hope so too. Maybe (my speculation) they are redesigning the lander now, taking into account the lessons learned from Chang'e-3. When finished, then they'll let us know... Thorsten |
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Oct 18 2014, 02:28 AM
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#32
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
"Blackstar" on that forum is a science and aerospace writer/historian named Dwayne Day, who has more connections in the industry than most NASA administrators... He may occasionally pass along rumors (as we all do on occasion), but his rumors are usually more reliable than press releases from the various agencies, universities and aerospace firms.
The best information I've heard is that Chang'e 4 will be not only a revamped version of Yutu, but will also test the sample collection and caching systems. Chang'e 5 will then be the sample return mission. What I've not heard is whether the lander that carries the Chang'e 5 rover will also carry the ascent vehicle that will rendezvous with the orbiter with the Earth return capsule. If they send separate flights with the rover lander, the ascent vehicle and the Earth return orbiter, the rover will have to be able to make its way to the ascent vehicle to deliver its samples. This would make this a combination LOR/LSR mission architecture -- lunar orbit rendezvous plus lunar surface rendezvous. I'll be very interested in seeing what they end up doing. If they do it that way, though, they can really do some robust recon and sample return work on the Moon, which will be really interesting to see. -the other Doug (With my shield, not yet upon it) -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Oct 18 2014, 07:15 AM
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#33
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
as fare as I know, CE-5 will not carry a rover. samples are collected by a robotic arm and the lander carries the ascent rocket to put samples in lunar orbit for rendezvous with the Earth return module.
see for ex http://www.spaceflight101.com/uploads/6/4/...306814_orig.jpg |
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Oct 18 2014, 12:39 PM
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#34
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Okay, kewl. A rather less robust geological exploration in re the sample return, then. As with the Soviet Luna sample return spacecraft, your selection of samples is limited to the variety available within reach of an arm attached to the lander. Certainly, this is more robust than, say, the seminal APXS systems flown on Surveyor, which had a variety of targets limited to an area less than a square foot (and that only when improvised operations using Surveyor's digging scoop arm to push the APXS sensor away from the ground directly below its deployment housing -- without that improvisation, Surveyor would have a target selection pre-determined by the single spot over which the APXS sensor was located after landing).
It *is* nice that the Chang'e return scheme, as per the illustration, will be a deep core. Such was returned by the final Luna sample return craft, as well (though perhaps not as deep as the Apollo deep cores). But we're not looking at the kind of exploration flexibility and variety, in terms of returned samples, that you could get by roving around and selecting the most interesting samples (both those that represent the common rocks and soils that define the overall area geologically plus the unique and exotic samples that represent rocks thrown into the area from other geological units far away). Yes, you would need to acquire very small samples of each type of rock you find, but that's the same challenge MSR will be facing in the next couple of decades. I guess the good news is that China is developing an infrastructure for unmanned lunar exploration that can be exploited in a number of ways in the future. Perhaps after the deep-core sample return process has been proven out, we will see the LSR-style rover-cache-plus-separate-return-vehicle architecture developed to provide a truly robust geological exploration capability. At least, one can hope... -the other Doug (With my shield, not yet upon it) -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Oct 23 2014, 02:13 AM
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#35
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 3 Joined: 10-January 14 Member No.: 7093 |
New lunar mission to test Chang'e-5 technology
English.news.cn 2014-10-22 13:57:53 • China will launch a new lunar mission this week to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5. • The experimental spacecraft is expected to reach a location near the moon and return to Earth. • Spacecraft's speed will be slowed down so it can land safely at determined location during process. BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- China will launch a new lunar mission this week to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return to Earth. The experimental spacecraft launched this week is expected to reach a location near the moon and return to Earth, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense on Wednesday. The test model is currently ready and scheduled to be launched between Friday and Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China, with the whole mission taking about eight days. "The meteorological condition will meet the requirements for the launch," said Tao Zhongshan, chief engineer of the center. It is the first time China has conducted a test involving a half-orbit around the moon at a height of 380,000 kilometers before having the craft return to Earth. The return mission will involve the spacecraft entering, exiting, and re-entering Earth's atmosphere and landing, said the administration. During this process, the spacecraft's speed will be slowed down so it can land safely at a determined location, a key capability needed for Chang'e-5, which is expected to return from the moon at a velocity of 11.2 kilometers per second, according to the scientists' explanation. China's advanced Long March-3C carrier rocket will make its debut during the test. The Chang'e-5 probe, expected to launch in 2017, will be tasked with landing on the moon, collecting samples and returning to Earth. "Apart from the technology of self-returning to Earth, the probe will make breakthrough in sample collecting, moon surface takeoff, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit," said Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China's lunar probe project. China carried out Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 missions in 2007 and 2010, respectively. In December, 2013, Chang'e-3 lunar probe succeeded in soft landing on the moon, with the country's first moon rover on board. The Chang'e-3 mission marked completion of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth. PS, from other newest report, this test spacecraft will also carry two nanosatellite made by Luxembourg and Denmark, named "4M Radio Beacon" and "Pocket Spaceship PS86X1", will be released near the moon and flyby the moon. |
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Oct 23 2014, 09:31 PM
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#36
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Member Group: Members Posts: 149 Joined: 18-June 08 Member No.: 4216 |
..and it's off:
http://www.spaceflight101.com/change-5-tes...on-updates.html interestingly, the mission profile appears similar to that of the soviet zond missions of the late 1960s. |
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Oct 24 2014, 01:57 PM
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#37
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 31 Joined: 10-January 14 Member No.: 7094 |
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Oct 24 2014, 03:06 PM
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#38
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Looks like a black-and-white picture of Earth that has been tinted blue.
-the other Doug (With my shield, not yet upon it) -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Oct 24 2014, 03:56 PM
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#39
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
would be interesting to know whether it comes from a proper "2D" camera, i.e. not a pushbroom one like on CE-1 and -2 or from an engineering webcam like those on CE-2
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Oct 24 2014, 07:14 PM
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#40
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
Before first TCM,CE5T1 take a photo of earth Looks like a black-and-white picture of Earth that has been tinted blue. -the other Doug (With my shield, not yet upon it) We may have a blue moon thou: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon -------------------- |
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Oct 25 2014, 06:51 AM
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#41
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 3108 Joined: 21-December 05 From: Canberra, Australia Member No.: 615 |
"...tinted blue."
More likely just the quality of the monitor it was screen-captured from. |
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Oct 25 2014, 12:34 PM
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#42
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Yeah, possibly a monitor issue. But there are no colors in that image except blue -- not even white. The clouds are just a lighter blue than the rest of the image. If it's a color image, there are no land masses visible and the white clouds have been heavily tinted.
It still looks like a tinted gray-scale image to me, to be honest. I get the feeling that if you just drew the blue channel down to where the clouds are white, the rest of the image would become gray. -the other Doug (With my shield, not yet upon it) -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Oct 26 2014, 08:29 AM
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#43
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 31 Joined: 10-January 14 Member No.: 7094 |
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Oct 26 2014, 08:36 AM
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#44
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
I didn't notice it before... the phase of the Moon when CE-5 T1 fies by Tuesday morning will be similar to that of the Luna 3 flyby 55 years ago. so more or less the same portion of the farside will be illuminated
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Oct 28 2014, 01:15 PM
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#45
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 31 Joined: 10-January 14 Member No.: 7094 |
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