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Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Earth & Moon > Lunar Exploration > Chang'e program
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Geert
According to moondaily.com China plans a (unmanned) moonlanding for 2013.

The article contains an image of a sample-return probe taking off from the moon which indeed looks a lot like a (Soviet) Y8E derived vehicle.

If this is true, my earlier remark here that this landingsite might be selected for its option to fly a direct ascent trajectory back to earth seems to make sense, they might indeed be planning to attempt a sample-return mission with a moonlanding in the vicinity of the present crash-site.

Regards,

Geert.
yaohua2000
As an enthusiast from China, NASA and the United States have disappointed me a lot. From the cancelled Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter and Mars Telecommunication Orbiter, to the delayed Mars Science Laboratory and the dying Constellation Program... I have almost lost the confidence and patient.

But based on reports from various sources, I think China is serious this time. There will be a Mars Pathfinder-like small lunar rover in 2013, and a sample return mission in 2017. It is just amazing, even by NASA/JPL's standard.

And China so far has a good record to get things done on time.
Explorer1
Well, JIMO was replaced, and Mars seems to be as high a priority as ever, not to mention all those other missions.

The Moon is mostly appealing since the environment is so well known, after 50 years of missions. Compare the success rate percentage for missions to the Moon with Mars. Better accessibility then anything apart from LEO too. Everyone knows what to expect on the surface, at least on the near side.
nprev
Just a gentle reminder for everyone to review the rules...everybody play nice! wink.gif
Phil Stooke
I am pleased to see China exploring the Moon like this. I understand that, as there have been two orbiters (counting Chang-e 2), there will also be two landers with rovers and two sample return missions. Earlier reports spoke of three stages in exploration, but there would be two missions in each stage.

Phil
charborob
See this report on Spacedaily.com: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Four_Chi...Mooted_999.html
yaohua2000
Lunar Rover Test in the Kumtag Desert, Gansu Province

yaohua2000
Chang'e 3 lunar rover, due to launch in 2013.
Phil Stooke
Wonderful pictures, thanks for posting them here. I am really looking forward to this mission. I hope we will be able to see daily reports on the rover's activities.

It will be interesting to see if any Google Lunar X Prize team attempts a mission before Chang-E 3 in October 2013. I suspect not, I think China will have the next lander on the Moon.

Phil

SFJCody
Is that rocker-bogie? Doesn't JPL have a patent on that?
stevesliva
QUOTE (SFJCody @ Mar 11 2012, 05:57 PM) *
Is that rocker-bogie? Doesn't JPL have a patent on that?


They do, although they probably won't sweat the noncommercial use of it.
hendric
Wouldn't matter unless JPL patented it in China. smile.gif

edit:

Looking at these pictures, it makes Scooterlord's MER render that much more amazing. Is it real, or is it Scooterlord? ™
kenny
The Chinese rover wheels are reminiscent of the Lunokods of the 1970s.
elakdawalla
QUOTE (yaohua2000 @ Mar 11 2012, 05:16 AM) *
Lunar Rover Test in the Kumtag Desert, Gansu Province

Can you post the original URL where these images came from?

(Cool stuff.)
yaohua2000
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Mar 16 2012, 03:48 AM) *
Can you post the original URL where these images came from?

(Cool stuff.)


From 9ifly forums: http://www.9ifly.cn/thread-364-5-2.html

The first few pictures were originally posted as a travelogue by ticker@newsmth (a team member): http://www.newsmth.net/bbsbfind.php?q=1&am...cks&dt=1000
Phil Stooke
Chang'E-3 landing area:

http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPS...C2012-151-1.pdf

Phil
Phil Stooke
The landing area shown in that abstract is plotted here as a red box on a Quickmap background:

Click to view attachment

So not necessarily literally in Sinus Iridum, it may be outside but nearby. I don't know of other areas with the very high resolution coverage, so Chang'E 4 may be targeted for the same region, and maybe even the later sample return missions. Still quite a lot of scope for different sites and surface compositions here.

Phil
tolis
Back to lunar missions smile.gif where the Chang'e 3 lunar lander is expected to fly
to the Moon "in the second half of 2013".

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/20...c_131750533.htm


Tolis.
tolis
Hawaii partners with China on Moon landing:

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/09/...n-moon-landing/


Tolis.
Hungry4info
Chang'e 3's RTG could permit it a 30 year lifespan.
http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/20...on-moon-landing
Phil Stooke
Of course, a mechanical or electronic failure is likely to end the mission long before the RTG wears out (same as on Curiosity)

Phil

Paolo
in free access and creative commons: Precise positioning of the Chang’E-3 lunar lander using a kinematic statistical method
elakdawalla
I've put together a Flickr album of all the images of Chang'E 3 that I've been able to find online. There is one particularly visually striking little animation that was shown as part of a news broadcast, showing the rover making tracks on the Moon, driving toward the Sun. I'm using it to illustrate my story on Chang'E 3 even though the quality of the screen grab is very poor. I would love to try to create a higher-resolution version of this illustration by combining some lunar landscape photo with some hand-drawn silhouette of the rover, but I don't have time to try and don't even know if my artistic ability is up to the task. So I throw the idea out there in case anyone else wants to take up that challenge!

Click to view attachment

Bonus: a Flickr album of very bad quality screen grabs from Ouyang Ziyuan's talk showing Chang'E 5 artwork.
Paolo
I don't understand why space geeks are not excited about Chang'e 3. I mean, I have seen a space.com post on the 13 missions worth following in 2013 and it's not even included...
just a reminder for the history-oriented: CE-3 will attempt the first lunar soft landing in 37 years (since Luna 24 in 1976) and will deploy the first lunar rover in 40 years! (the last was Lunokhod 2 in 1973!)
tolis
I would say that partly to blame is the (relative) lack of publicly available information. I suspect
that, once it launches and touches down everyone will go bonkers about it.

By the way, the image that accompanies Emily's most recent post reminds
me of an animation of MER rover operation that was created for PR purposes
before landing back in the early 00s. I recall seeing the MER roving
towards the sun during the concluding part of that animation.

I also wonder if any part of the landing sequence for CE3 could be visible from Earth.
nprev
I suppose that the landing might be barely visible to LRO if the latter is in a favorable orbital position at the time, but suspect it would be quite underwhelming since of course Chang'e-3 won't be using a parachute.
Astro0
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Jan 5 2013, 06:56 AM) *
I would love to try to create a higher-resolution version of this illustration by combining some lunar landscape photo with some hand-drawn silhouette of the rover, but I don't have time to try and don't even know if my artistic ability is up to the task. So I throw the idea out there in case anyone else wants to take up that challenge!


Challenge accepted and a file already sent to you.

Will post it here later with your OK. wink.gif
smh
I can't find any information on how the RTG is powered? Does China have it's own PU-238?
Astro0
Nice article by Emily compiling all the information available on the Chang'E 3 mission.
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda...nar-lander.html

Hey, and is that my illustration of the rover on the Moon I see??!! smile.gif
Yes, shameless self congratulations laugh.gif

You're welcome science fans biggrin.gif
Cosmic Penguin
Ouyang Ziyuan is reporting that the launch of Chang'e 3 may come as soon as June 2013! That's much earlier than what I have expected...... blink.gif

Source in Chinese
Cosmic Penguin
Just saw a Chinese news report interviewing the person in charge of rocket production for the CE-3 launch (plus others of the same series) that the launch is scheduled in early December! laugh.gif (Chinese source)

Also I have translated another article a week before that roughly gives out the tests that have been completed and still needs to be done before launch (Chinese source):

Completed

- Flight hardware development and acceptance
- Lander / rover final assembly and combined testing
- Electromagnetic compatibility tests
- Lander / rover separation and release testing
- Mechanical force testing

Coming up

- Thermal balance and vacuum testing
- Modal strength testing on key components (wheels and landing gears?)
- Mission simulation with the spacecraft control center at Beijing

Phil Stooke
Thanks for this. Late in the year is what had been expected for a few years, but I had been quite excited with the idea it might happen in June! Anyway it will be a very interesting mission. I hope we will get frequent updates on its activities.

Phil

Cosmic Penguin
Anyone have seen information (papers, abstracts, presentations etc.) about what is expected at Sinus Iridum (geology etc.) and the scientific operations on the Moon for CE-3? I had a cursory check on the planned presentations at LPSC 2013, and was disappointed to see only two dry.gif (and not quite what I am trying to find):

Studying on the Calibration Method for Chang’E-3 Pancam.


Relative position determination between lunar lander and rover using same beam VLBI technique.

I really wanted to see what can be expected for the first lunar in-situ exploration mission in almost 40 years...... ph34r.gif
machi
Cosmic Penguin:

This is pretty easy, you can find available sources via Google Scholar.
Here is geologic map of Sinus Iridum area - USGS IMAP602.
Cosmic Penguin
Heh, I was just ranting on the lack of information on the science instruments on Chang'e 3, and then I went to Google Scholar and found a bunch of them - I think members with access to these papers will find them interesting to read.

The links in italics are available to the general public.

(List will be updated as I find more related papers)

Lander

PanCam: (none found yet)

Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT): 1.

Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUV) (for plasmasphere studies): 1. 2.


Rover

PanCam: 1. 2.

VIS/NIR Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS): 1.

Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): 1.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR): 1. 2. 3.

Hope this helps. smile.gif
Phil Stooke
This report (right at the end):

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/04/chi...ch-2d-gaofen-1/

says Chang'E 3 will launch in December.

Phil

Cosmic Penguin
The Chinese are now doing the final major test - thermal testing - for the lander and rover right now (since sometime in April actually). And yes it seems that early December is what the Chinese are heading for the launch.

And I got a bunch of high-res photos of the spacecraft being processed for testing! Link smile.gif
elakdawalla
What's the provenance of those photos? They're watermarked "China Space News" but I don't find a website or organization called that, at least not in English. Can you link to the Chinese website that they originated from? Is it a Chinese language periodical? I see an Amazon listing for a magazine with that title.
Paolo
I think pics were first posted here http://210.82.31.84:9000/rp/fs/cp/98/36/20...4/content_0.htm
Phil Stooke
I've been preparing some graphics for Chang'E 3, and thinking about things a bit.

This is a map of the landing area:

Click to view attachment

It's a composite of LROC-WAC images from Quickmap and the Clementine false-color map, showing the dramatic difference in lava flow types in Mare Imbrium first noted by Ewen Whitaker in the 1960s. 'Blue' lavas overlie 'yellow' lavas. (I have cosmetically removed some small but ugly data gaps.) The white box is the Chang'E 3 landing area, often said to be just Sinus Iridum, but actually extending well outside it. This area is approximately 80% covered by Chang'E 2 images with resolution of about 1.5 to 2.0 m/pixel.

This is the only area of the Moon covered by Chang'E 2 at such high resolution. So it would seem to me that it is intended to serve as the landing area for future landers as well as Chang'E 3. Chang'E 4 is another rover scheduled for 2014 or 2015 (just a hunch - will it carry a GLXP secondary payload? - no official word yet, I am just surmising based on fragmentary public information). Chang'E 5 and 6 are sample return missions scheduled for approximately 2017 and 2018. If the sample return missions come here it would make lots of sense to have one in each lava flow type. The two preliminary rovers might be designed to do a bit of in situ analysis in each area in preparation for the later missions.

Another thought - the ground-penetrating radar on CE3 might detect the contact between the blue and yellow lavas if it lands in the blue unit.

Phil
elakdawalla
In the absence of much detailed scientific information it's nice to have such well-informed speculation smile.gif

Are those blue lavas the high-Ti basalts or something different?
Phil Stooke
Yes, Emily, they are high Ti.

Of course, you can't trust mere speculation!

Phil

Cosmic Penguin
Apparently the launch of Chang'e 3 is scheduled at ~17:00 UTC on December 1st! laugh.gif The information comes from a lecture by an astronomer at the Shanghai Observatory, which will use their 65 meter radio telescope to help track CE-3 on its way to the Moon.

Phil Stooke
Excellent news. Thanks for this. I am so looking forward to having something on the surface of the Moon again.

My next wish... is to learn of the exact landing target they are aiming for.

Phil

tedstryk
I'm just excited that we may be about to see the first lunar landing in my lifetime.
Doug M.
With less than four months to go before launch, Chang'e seems to have attracted very little mainstream media attention. Nobody outside of a small circle of space enthusiasts seems to be aware that China will attempt a Moon landing before the end of this year.

Which leads to a question: if Chang'e works as planned, what would you expect the public response to be? Astonishment? Appreciation? Calls for a new Moon race? Or "meh, been there, done that"?


Doug M.
Phil Stooke
Envy?

Phil
tolis
QUOTE (Cosmic Penguin @ Aug 7 2013, 01:46 PM) *
Apparently the launch of Chang'e 3 is scheduled at ~17:00 UTC on December 1st! laugh.gif The information comes from a lecture by an astronomer at the Shanghai Observatory, which will use their 65 meter radio telescope to help track CE-3 on its way to the Moon.



If that piece of information is accurate I wonder to what degree that constrains the flight time and landing date, given that
launch will occur a day before New Moon and (presumably) the landing needs to take place in sunlight and as early
in the lunar day as possible. The Sun rises at Sinus Iridum on Dec 12, sets on Dec 27th and rises again
on Jan 11th.
tolis
QUOTE (Doug M. @ Aug 12 2013, 10:14 AM) *
With less than four months to go before launch, Chang'e seems to have attracted very little mainstream media attention. Nobody outside of a small circle of space enthusiasts seems to be aware that China will attempt a Moon landing before the end of this year.

Which leads to a question: if Chang'e works as planned, what would you expect the public response to be? Astonishment? Appreciation? Calls for a new Moon race? Or "meh, been there, done that"?


Doug M.


One could draw an analogy with Hayabusa. Before arrival at Itokawa, the mission was very low-key. Afterwards, with
all these nice close-ups..btw, Chang'e 3 will bring the first CCD cameras to the lunar surface (yes, it *has* been that long!).
djellison
QUOTE (tolis @ Aug 15 2013, 07:01 AM) *
the first CCD cameras to the lunar surface (yes, it *has* been that long!).


There are lots of CCD cameras on the lunar surface. They're just part of debris fields smile.gif
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