Category Archives: The Moon

Multiple media, Satellite Watching, The Moon

Image of the ISS transiting the Moon

Juan González Alicea of the Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe in Puerto Rico made this excellent photo of the ISS crossing in front of  the crescent Moon on December 6th: Wow! International Space Station Passes By Crescent Moon in Amazing Photo – Space.com

[]

Click for full size.
Photo credits:  Juan González Alicea of the Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe 

 Find more about tracking spacecraft in the HobbySpace Satellite Observing section.

Chinese space, Space Systems, The Moon

Yutu begins its roving of the Moon

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society has posted some reports and lots of pictures on the status and plans for the Chinese Chang’e 3 lander and Yutu rover on the Moon:

Yutu rolling on the Moon
CNSA / ifeng.com / Emily Lakdawalla
Yutu rolling on the Moon
China’s Yutu rover makes tracks on the surface of the Moon,
taken on December 21, 2003. This sequence was taken from a
television broadcast, aligned to correct for the motion of the camera,
and its color adjusted.

Chinese space, Space Science, The Moon

Chang’e 3 update

Emily Lakdawalla posts a review of what was said during a press conference about the Chang’e 3 mission: Chang’e 3 update: 6 instruments active, new fan-produced landing video – The Planetary Society.

Here’s video of highlights of the mission so far from launch through the landing:

http://youtu.be/Rrq6-w3j888

Chinese space, Space Systems, The Moon

Watching Chang’e 3 come in for its landing

Here’s a cool video from the Chang’e 3 spacecraft as it came in for a landing on the Moon: Amazing Chang’e 3 descent video – The Planetary Society

http://youtu.be/TaQTSTrbT3w

 

Chinese space, Space Systems, The Moon

Chang’e 3 update: Pictures from Yutu

1 Comment

11:30 am ET: Some info from the CCTV discussion before it ended:

  • Several instruments on the vehicles are now working such as the ground-penetrating radar
  • The rover will hibernate between Dec 16 to 23 to avoid the heat of the lunar noon.
  • Lander and rover will hibernate during the two week lunar night.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera site posts images of where they believe the Chang’e 3 landed: Safe On The Surface Of The Moon! – LROC News System

More at

11:15 am ET: The CCTV program on the lunar mission has apparently ended for today.

NASA has no formal co-operative research interactions with the Chinese lunar program. This statement describes the agency’s current lunar projects and  how they might benefit from the Chinese lander and rover: China’s Lunar Lander May Provide Additional Science for NASA Spacecraft – NASA

10:55am ET: Some formal statements were made by Chinese officials about the success of the mission. The control room is enormous compared to what one would see at JPL or JSC today.

ControlRoom2

10:45 am ET: This image is of the rover as seen by the lander:

Embedded image permalink

10:43 am ET: This image is being distributed around the web:

Owly ImagesThe first public image of the  lander as seen from the Yutu rover.

10:39 am EST: The Yutu rover is expected soon to start sending back pictures of the Chang’e 3 lander.  The CCTV site is currently broadcasting coverage of the Chang’e 3 mision: CCTV News Live – CDN Live Streaming – CCTV Program online.

This site has lots of details about the mission: Chang’e 3 Mission Updates – SPACEFLIGHT101