Moon landing 2013 (Chang'e 3)

[czokletmuss]

{LOL< China Daily said "dark side", it is the FAR side of moon}

I bet the Pink Floyd fan wrote that.

Anyways, that's great news - I can't wait for the landing!

[nhnifong]

I think they meant to say that. They wan't the perilune on the light side after all.

[Lohan2008]

Woot! My comment got put up on China Daily !! Take that !

"Educating the Masses"

Edited December 11, 2013 by Lohan2008

[Lohan2008]

They want the perilune on the light side after all.

noun: perilune

1. the point at which a spacecraft in lunar orbit is closest to the moon.

[deadshot462]

Fantastic! Can't wait to see new images from the lunar surface!

Pretty much this. The fact that the rover will land on a high latitude of the Moon may provide for some awesome Earth shots near the Moon's horizon.

[PTNLemay]

So... has this just not gotten a lot of coverage, or did I miss all of the news mentions and articles?

1.2 tons onto the surface... that seems quite respectable.

[deadshot462]

So... has this just not gotten a lot of coverage, or did I miss all of the news mentions and articles?

1.2 tons onto the surface... that seems quite respectable.

China has kept the details of this mission fairly secret. It may be normal for them but I guess we're used to NASA's massive social network presence with every detail shown. The lander has a descent camera but it's probably only going to record. Even if we just get a telemetry livestream, that would be exciting.

[Kryten]

So... has this just not gotten a lot of coverage, or did I miss all of the news mentions and articles?

Not a lot of coverage in most foreign media. So far from what I've seen it's got more coverage than your average space launch, but that's not exactly saying much. Just wait until it lands...

[bigdad84]

Not a lot of coverage in most foreign media. So far from what I've seen it's got more coverage than your average space launch, but that's not exactly saying much. Just wait until it lands...

Just wait until it lands.... Maybe the American people will start asking themselves why NASA isn't putting men on the moon anymore, and start up a public debate.

[nhnifong]

Just wait until it lands.... Maybe the American people will start asking themselves why NASA isn't putting men on the moon anymore, and start up a public debate.

The debate has been going on for a while.

76% of americans support doubling NASA's budget.

[PTNLemay]

It's not even about doubling the budget. They just need to take what they're already getting and use it more effectively. Efficiency is the name of the game.

To use what may be a tired example, SpaceX. Compared to what NASA gets they're on a shoe-string budget (somewhat ironically, because a lot of their start-up funding is coming from NASA, lol) and yet they're delivering fantastic results with little to no delays. If we could find more efficient people like that, we could do crazy stuff without increasing the budget. Maybe not a full Mars mission... but something to head us off in that direction.

[czokletmuss]

What makes it even more funny is that SpaceX hired a lot of people with experience from NASA or NASA contractors.

Anyways, this is completely off-topic - we're discussing here the glorious Moon landing, not NASA bureaucracy and incompetence

[Tiberion]

incompetence

This word, it does not mean what you think it means.

[czokletmuss]

This word, it does not mean what you think it means.

I'm not a native speaker but:

Competence (or competency) is the ability of an individual to do a job properly. A competency is a set of defined behaviors that provide a structured guide enabling the identification, evaluation and development of the behaviors in individual employees

And I don't think NASA is doing its job properly. But let's stay on topic:

Edited December 13, 2013 by czokletmuss

[PakledHostage]

I'm not a native speaker but:

I think he's making a reference to the movie "The Princess Bride". For what it is worth, I may not agree with your opinion, but there's nothing wrong with how you chose to use the word "incompetence".

But back on topic:

Thanks for sharing the video. I am looking forward to seeing footage from the rover after it lands.

[128MB]

lol i completely missed this, i knew they were planning on going to the moon but its nearly landed?

[SuperFastJellyfish]

lol i completely missed this, i knew they were planning on going to the moon but its nearly landed?

Last I heard, it is scheduled to land tomorrow, but China is keeping most of the details under wraps.

[Kryten]

We know it'll be landing some time not much after 11:00am UCT-because that's when the coverage starts on CCTV.

[czokletmuss]

When China's Chang'e-3 makes a soft landing on the Moon on 14 December, ESA tracking stations will record crucial radio signals. Later, signals from the surface will help Beijing mission control to pinpoint the lander's location with extreme accuracy. ESA's Estrack network - a system of ten tracking stations in seven countries - has been providing critical support to China's third Chang'e mission, starting just after its spectacular launch earlier this month and continuing during its cruise to the Moon. Touchdown for the lander and its rover is set for Saturday in the Moon's 'Bay of Rainbows', a plain formed from the remains of an ancient impact crater. The Agency will also support the powered descent, when the 35 m-diameter deep-space antenna at New Norcia, Australia, will measure the Doppler shift of signals from the spacecraft. Recording these will help Chinese engineers to reconstruct the trajectory for future reference.

On 14 December, New Norcia station will track descent starting at 11:41 GMT (12:41 CET) until 18:30 GMT (19:30 CET). On the same day, after touchdown, New Norcia station will be joined by ESA's 35 m deep-space station at Cebreros, Spain, to provide interferometry and position determination of the lander. This will employ the sophisticated and ultra-precise 'delta-DOR' technique. Delta-DOR uses two widely separated tracking stations to fix locations accurately; only a few space agencies have mastered the technique.

Source: http://spaceref.com/moon/esa-teams-are-ready-for-chinas-moon-landing.html

And more importantly:

Chang'e-3, the unmanned spacecraft carrying the rover, is due to touch down on a lava plain named Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, shortly after 3 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. ET) on December 14, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/13/world/asia/china-moon-landing/

Edited December 13, 2013 by czokletmuss

[Cesrate]

Chang'e 3 will touch down at 21:40 (UTC+8) or 13:40 (UTC) today.

Edit: Ahh, typing mistake...

Edited December 14, 2013 by Cesrate

[NovaSilisko]

I've been hearing UTC 13:40. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/12130915-change-3-landing-tomorrow.html

[128MB]

Thanks for sharing Thats 14.40 gmt+1 for me

[iDan122]

Anyone know where to watch the landing?

[Jenteb07]

Anyone know where to watch the landing?

Possibly the same channel as was covering the launch: CCTV:

http://english.cntv.cn/live/p2p/index.shtml

Edited December 14, 2013 by Jenteb07

[czokletmuss]

Yes, that's the place to watch this.

The entire process of soft-landing will last 12 minutes and it will be performed by the probe itself, with "practically zero" chance of manual intervention being required, said the sources on Saturday, adding that the Chang'e-3 mission has so far proceeded as planned.

The probe will start decelerating from 15 km above the lunar surface until its relative speed is reduced from 1.7 km/s to nil. It will stay suspended at 100 meters above the moon to assess the landing area in order to avoid obstacles and locate the final landing spot.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-12/14/c_132967811.htm

I can't wait! Fraking Moon landing in my lifetime!