China's Spacecraft Lands on the Moon

The People’s Republic of China official news agency, Xinhua, hailed the nation's Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission "a complete success" after its first moon rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, and lander took photos of each other on lunar surface Sunday night, Dec. 15, 2013.

 

The one-minute photographing, a day after the country finished its first lunar soft landing, showed that both the lander and moon rover functioned well and marked the completion of soft landing, in-situ and patrol explorations, said Pei Zhaoyu, spokesman for China's lunar probe program.

 

Ma Xingrui, chief commander of the lunar program, declared the success of Chang'e-3 mission at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC), where Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang were present.

 

In a congratulatory message sent by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission, the success of Chang'e-3 mission was hailed as a "milestone" in the development of China's space programs, a "new glory" of the Chinese people in their exploration of the frontiers of science and technology and "outstanding contribution" of the Chinese nation in the mankind's peaceful use of the space.

 

The photographing started at about 11:42 p.m. Beijing Time, when the six-wheeled Yutu moved to a spot about 9m north to the lander.

 

The color images, live transmitted via a deep space network designed by China, showed the Chinese national flag on Yutu. It marked the first time that the five-star red flag had pictures taken in an extraterrestrial body.

 

After the photographing, the rover and lander embarked on their own scientific explorations. But in the coming days, the two will still have chances of taking photos of each other from different angles while the rover circles the lander.

 

Yutu will survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances and look for natural resources for 3 months at a speed of 200m/hr, while the lander will conduct in-situ exploration at the landing site for one year.

 

The 140kg rover separated from the lander and touched the lunar surface at 4:35 a.m. Sunday, several hours after Chang'e-3 lunar probe soft-landed on the moon's surface at 9:11 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013.

 

Chang'e-3 landed on the moon's Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, making China the third country in the world to carry out such a rover mission after the United States and Soviet Union. The last soft-landing of a probe on the moon was carried out by the Soviet Union in 1976.

 

In ancient Chinese mythology, Yutu was the white pet rabbit of the lunar goddess Chang'e. The name for the rover was selected following an online poll that collected several million votes from people around the world.

 

The rover, 1.5m long (with its two solar panels folded) x 1m wide x 1.1m high, is a robot controlled by the command center from Earth. It will face challenges including temperature differences of more than 300°C on the moon.

 

Following the success of the Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2, respectively launched in 2007 and 2010, the Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission marks the full completion of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to the Earth.

 

After Chang'e-3, China's lunar program will enter a new stage of unmanned automatic sampling and return.

 

Wu Weiren, the lunar program's chief designer, said China is likely to bring samples from the moon back to the Earth on an unmanned craft before 2020, paving the way for a manned mission.

 

Chang’e-3 was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 1:30 a.m. Beijing time on Dec. 2, 2013 on board a Long March-3B carrier rocket. The lunar probe had been flying for 5 days in an Earth-moon transfer orbit, making slight adjustments along the way to set its route. Chang’e-3 then entered a 100km lunar orbit after slowing down when approaching the moon. Four days later, Chang’e-3 transferred its orbit into an elliptical one.

 

After another four days, Chang’e-3 went through six stages of deceleration until it was 15km from the moon’s surface. After landing on the moon, the rover was deployed to a pre-decided spot to begin its work.

 

Scientific mission 

The Chang’e lander and the Yutu rover have three objectives to achieve on the moon. First, exploring the surface and geological formation of the moon; second, finding natural resources that can be used on Earth; and third, remote control of the lunar probe and developing deep space communication technologies.

 

In line with the first objective, Chang’e 3 is tasked with investigating the mountains and rocks on the moon with several data collecting devicest on board the lander and rover. The rover is also equipped with a panorama camera and radar measurement equipment to explore the environment and locate natural resources. The craft is designed to run automatically and carry out patrol and detection missions on the lunar surface.

 

The Moon is full of resources – mainly rare Earth elements, titanium, and uranium – which the Earth is really short of. And these resources could eventually be mined and used by people on Earth.

 

The lunar program will also see breakthroughs in remotely controlling the rover from Earth. Technologies of high precision observation and control as well as lunar positioning will be used in the mission.

 

 

Images of the lander and rover on the lunar surface can be viewed at the Planetary Society's website.