CHINA ON THE MOON

　　The Chinese lunar probe Chang’e-3 has initiateda new phase of space exploration for mankind after successfully landing on the Earth’s satellite.

　　The soft-landing was made at approximately 9：11 p.m. on December 14， making China the third country to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States.Chang’e-3 was launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang SatelliteLaunch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The region of the moon that the probe landed on， known as Sinus Iridum， orthe Bay of Rainbows， has remained unstudiedand untouched by mankind until now.

　　About seven hours after the landing， at 4：35 a.m. on December 15， Yutu， meaning jade rabbit， the 140-kg lunar rover carried byChang’e-3， separated from the lander anddrove out onto the moon’s surface， leavingbehind tire tracks on the loose lunar soil. Acamera on the lander recorded the process and the images were transmitted back to Earth， according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

　　At 11：42 p.m.， after the rover moved to aspot about nine meters north of the lander，they took photographs of each other using the lander’s land form camera and Yutu’s panoramiccamera.

　　The color images， transmitted live via asatellite network designed by China， show Yutuproudly brandishing the five-starred red Chinese flag， the first time that it has been taken to anextraterrestrial body.

　　Ma Xingrui， chief commander of China’slunar exploration program， announced that the Chang’e-3 mission was a “complete success，”after the lander and moon rover took picturesof each other.

　　Previously unseen

　　“The photographs showed both the landerand the rover are functioning well and at the sametime they marked the completion of the softlanding， and the beginning of onsite surveying，”said Pei Zhaoyu， a spokesman for the program.According to scientists working on the Chang’e-3 mission， six of the eight scientificinstruments aboard Yutu and the Chang’e-3’slander have already been activated and havebegun observing space， the Earth and themoon， as of December 18.

　　“Chang’e-3 will study the moon’s terrain，geological structure， composition，and potentially exploitable resources，” said Zou Yongliao， a scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences， adding that the lande rwill observe the Earth’s plasmasphere usingan extreme-ultraviolet imager.

　　At the same time， the Chang’e-3’s lander，which will conduct exploration at the landingsite for one year， will also deploy a telescope that will observe deep space.

　　“This is the first time mankind has placeda telescope on the moon. The special environment of the moon will enable us to conducto bservation that could not be done on the Earthdue to the impact of the atmosphere，” said SunHuixian， deputy chief engineer of China’s lunarexploration program.

　　Yutu， which will have a three-month lifespan， will survey the moon’s geological structureand surface composition， also looking fornatural resources.

　　On December 15， Yutu’s radar began teststo determine the constitution of the lunar soil.According to Sun， the radar system attached to the bottom of the rover can scan up to 100 meters beneath the lunar surface.

　　Sun said that the rover is able to climbslopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200 meters per hour， explaining that designers setsuch a low speed for the vehicle because it hasto detect and avoid obstacles.

　　Using its ability to detect obstructions， therover will determine the path of least resistanceby coupling its onboard navigation systems withremote control.

　　“Theoretically， Yutu can travel nearly 10 kmacross the moon，” Sun said. “Engineers set up alaboratory on the Earth to simulate the uneventerrain of the moon and the rover went throughextensive testing first.”

　　The moon’s temperature ranges from more than 100 degrees Celsius during the day to aslow as 180 degrees Celsius below zero at nightdue to the lack of an atmosphere， presentinganother challenge to the rover.

　　To work properly， the rover has to maintainan internal operating temperature range between 40 degrees Celsius below zero to 50 degrees Celsius above. To achieve this， both the lander and rover are equipped with radioiso to peheating units.

　　Technological break throughs

　　Before Chang’e-3 landed on the moon， 129 lunar explorations had been conducted butonly 66 of them succeeded， among whichonly 13 unmanned soft landings were successfully completed.

　　The last soft landing took place on August18， 1976， when the Soviet probe Luna-24touched down on the moon to collect samples.In the following 37 years， the moon has hadnothing land on its surface.

　　The low success rate tells the difficulties of lunar explorations and landing. China， as a newcomerto the world’s space exploration club， hasbeen adhering to a path of domestically developedinnovations.

　　Compared to Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 lunar probes， launched in 2007 and 2010 respectively， 80 percent of Chang’e-3’s componentsand technologies are new， said SunZezhou， chief designer of the lunar probe.Launched in January 2004， China’s lunarex ploration program includes orbiting， landingand returning to the Earth.

　　After the Chang’e-3 mission， China’s lunarexploration program will enter a new stage ofunmanned automatic sampling and returnwhen it launches Chang’e-5， which will be aneven more difficult endeavor with its own newchallenges.

　　“The program’s third phase will be moredifficult because many technological break throughs must be made first， such as take offfrom the lunar surface， sampling encapsulation，rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit， andhigh-speed Earth re-entry， which are all new toChina，” said Wu Zhijian， a spokesman for the State Administration of Science， Technology and Industry for National Defense， at a pressconference in Beijing on December 16.

　　As the backup probe for Chang’e-3，Chang’e-4 will also be adapted to test technologiesto be used by Chang’e-5， according to Wu.It was revealed that China plans tolaunch Chang’e-5 in 2017， which is expectedto bring back up to 2kg of material from thelunar surface.

　　Researchers from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration havedescribed Chang’e-3’s operations on the moonas “a new scientific opportunity that could potentiallyenhance studies and observations ofthe lunar atmosphere.”

　　Global cooperation

　　“The Chang’e-3 details tell me thatthe UnitedStates now absolutely must start communicatingwith the Chinese about lunar cooperation，”said retired U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin， who wasthe second man to set foot on the moon after Neil Armstrong， in an interview with Aerospace America magazine.

　　Russian astronaut Vladimir Kovalenok said that the Chinese lunar program is on the righttrack and China can continue its path while takinginto account the pros and cons of the lunarprograms of the United States and the formerSoviet Union.

　　“China is now a pioneer in this field， andits lunar missions will be a catalyst for lunarexplorations by other countries， as the mooncan serve as a basis for a jump on journeysto more distant places in the solar system，”Kovalenok said.

　　“The European Space Agency (ESA) andChina have recently signed a mutual cross supportagreement that implies that the ESA canprovide support to a Chinese mission throughour deep space network (Estrack)，” said KarlBergquist， Administrator of ESA’s InternationalRelations Department.

　　“But the contrary could also be possible， i.e.that ESA would make requests to China to useChinese antennas for an ESA mission. This hasnot yet happened， but I am sure it will happenin the next few years，” Bergquist told China’sXinhua News Agency.

　　“This is a sign of the close relationsthatexists between the ESA and the Chinese spaceauthorities，” Bergquist added.At the December 16 press conference，Wu said that China is always positive aboutinternational cooperation in lunar exploration.“We have had great cooperation with othercountries and international organizations duringprevious missions，” he noted.

　　Data collected through Chang’e-1 andChang’e-2 probes are available to scientistsacross the globe， according to Wu. He alsorevealed that China shared information collected by Chang’e-1 with the ESA， and an ESA aerospace control center as well as three of itstelecommand telemetry control stations tookpart in the Chang’e-3 mission.

　　“In the next stage of China’s lunar explorationprogram， there will be more internation alcooperation，” Wu said.

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