[meteorite-list] Long March Rover Blasts Off with Chinese Lunar Rover (Chang'e 3/Yutu)

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <*meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 19:40:07 -0500 Message-ID: <CAKBPJW-WLb7bw0z1MMeUhwYB7VeB_bWLA9iyEiVhe0LhDRea4A_at_mail.gmail.com> · meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com

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On 12/1/13, Ron Baalke <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov> wrote:
>
> http://www.spaceflightnow.com/china/change3/131201launch/
>
> Long March rocket blasts off with Chinese lunar rover
> BY STEPHEN CLARK
> SPACEFLIGHT NOW
> December 1, 2013
>
> A six-wheeled robotic rover named Yutu rode a Long March rocket into space
> Sunday on China's first lunar landing mission, marking an auspicious start
> to a four-day journey to the moon.
>
> The Yutu rover, mounted on a stationary rocket-powered landing platform,
> will touch down on the moon Dec. 14. If it makes it, the Chinese mission
> will be the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the moon since
> 1976.
>
> The lunar landing mission is named Chang'e 3, the third Chinese lunar
> probe following a pair of orbiters launched in 2007 and 2010.
>
> Packed with a ground-piercing radar, cameras, spectrometers and
> plutonium-powered
> heaters, the rover lifted off at 1730 GMT (12:30 p.m. EST) Sunday from
> the Xichang launching base in southern China's Sichuan province. Launch
> occurred at 1:30 a.m. Beijing time Monday.
>
> The liftoff was broadcast on Chinese state television.
>
> The 185-foot-tall Long March 3B rocket ignited its eight liquid-fueled
> first stage and booster engines and climbed away from its mountainous
> launch pad, shedding the liquid-fueled boosters and first stage a few
> minutes later.
>
> A hydrazine-fueled second stage and hydrogen-fueled third stage propelled
> the Chang'e 3 lander on a direct four-day trajectory to the moon, where
> it will brake into orbit Dec. 6.
>
> The robotic spacecraft separated from the Long March third stage at 1749
> GMT (12:49 p.m. EST), drifting away from the rocket in spectacular live
> video views beamed back to Earth from cameras affixed to the launcher.
>
> The video showed the Chang'e 3 probe firing rocket thrusters. Plumes of
> exhaust were illuminated by the sun as the craft flew into sunrise over
> the Pacific Ocean.
>
> The spacecraft deployed its four landing legs and power-generating solar
> panels a few minutes later, and officials at the Beijing Aerospace Control
> Center declared the launch a success.
>
> "On behalf of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and the command
> headquarters,
> I would like to extend my gratitude to all those who have been part of
> the project," said Zhang Zhenzhong, director of the Xichang launch base.
> "And my thanks also go to all the friends who have been helping us
> throughout
> the whole process.
>
> "The Chang'e probe is on the way to the moon. Of course, it's a symbol
> of China's national power and prowess," Zhang said in post-launch remarks
> translated into English on China's state-run television.
>
> Over the next few days, Chang'e 3 will adjust its path toward the moon
> three times to set up for a critical rocket burn to enter lunar orbit
> Dec. 6.
>
> Landing on the moon is scheduled for Dec. 14 in a region known as Bay
> of Rainbows, or Sinus Iridum, on the upper-left part of the moon as viewed
> from Earth.
>
> Many of the mission's specifications and objectives remained secret until
> the week of launch, when China rolled out details in a press briefing
> and through official state-owned media outlets.
>
> The lander carries a bipropellant rocket engine designed to adjust its
> power level and pivot to control the probe's descent from an altitude
> of 15 kilometers, or about 9 miles, according to China's state-run Xinhua
> news agency.
>
> The probe is equipped with terrain recognition sensors to feed data into
> the lander's computer, which can autonomously guide the spacecraft to
> a flat landing zone clear of boulders, craters and steep inclines. That's
> a first for an unmanned mission, and all robotic landers up to now had
> to risk settling on to rock fields or other unwelcoming terrain, including
> NASA's Curiosity rover when it touched down on Mars.
>
> The four-legged lander will hit the lunar surface at a speed of less than
> 8.5 mph, and each leg features a device similar to a shock absorber on
> a car to cushion the impact, according to a paper published in Science
> China by members of the mission's development team.
>
> Some time after landing, the probe will deploy a ramp for the Yutu rover
> to drive on to the lunar surface to begin its exploration mission.
>
> The rover has a mass of 140 kilograms, or about 308 pounds, and carries
> radioisotope heater units to keep the spacecraft warm during the two
> week-long
> lunar nights. The heaters are likely powered by small quantities of
> plutonium-238,
> the isotope of plutonium preferred for space missions, according to
> respected
> space researcher Dwayne Day, who discussed the rover's heaters in a story
> published in the Space Review.
>
> The Yutu rover carries advanced radars to study the structure of the lunar
> crust at shallow depths along its path, and it is outfitted with
> spectrometers
> to detect the elements making up the moon's soil and rocks, said Pei Zhaoyu,
>
> a spokesperson for the Chang'e 3 mission, in a report by Xinhua.
>
> Four navigation and panoramic cameras are mounted on the rover to return
> high-resolution images from the moon.
>
> The mission also has an optical telescope for astronomical observations
> from the lunar surface, according to Pei.
>
> China's lunar program is focused on robotic missions for now, with plans
> for an unmanned mission to return rock samples to Earth by 2020. China's
> military-run human space program is focused on development of a space
> station in Earth orbit around the same timeframe, but scientists have
> studied a manned lunar mission in the next decade.
>
> Chang'e 3 will be China's first mission to test the technologies required
> for future lunar exploration.
>
> China has installed new deep space tracking antennas comparable to the
> "world standard" and developed advanced autonomous guidance, navigation
> and control systems for Chang'e 3, according to Wu Zhijian, a spokesperson
> for China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for
> National Defence, or SASTIND, which is managing the mission.
>
> The European Space Agency is also contributing tracking and communications
> support to the Chang'e 3 mission.
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