China successfully launches first lunar probe

China successfully launches first lunar probe

www.msnbc.msn.com

The launch comes just weeks after China's regional rival Japan put a probe into orbit around the moon in a big leap forward for Asia's undeclared space race. India is likely to join the regional rivalry soon, with plans to send its own lunar probe into space in April.

The Chang'e 1, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, will orbit Earth while technical adjustments are made, and will enter the moon's orbit by Nov. 5.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 24-10-2007 by UM_Gazz]

This is kind of cool because China is not allowed to be part of the ISS because of the Americans not allowing it. So maybe they will show some REAL pictures of the moon surface just to piss NASA off?

The probe will be around the moon for a year, using x-ray spectrometers to map the entire surface completely. Very cool, and I believe that it will be difficult to hide the moon base from the Chinese.

Then if they want to talk about it publicly or not...who knows. They DO want to join the ISS, so maybe they will use the knowledge about the moon base to put pressure on the US to let them join.

The article says that its the japanese orbiter that will be orbiting the moon for a year, but Reuters says its the chinese one (source) so I think MSNBC probably got it wrong. Or maybe both the chinese and the japanese one will be orbiting for a year.

India is also launching its own in April. How long can they keep the truth secret?

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 24-10-2007 by Copernicus]

Its interesting to watch the slow shift of power away from us in the west. We here in Europe lost our power base in the early to mid 20th century when it changed to the US and USSR and now the pendulum is swinging again this time towards China and India.

China have done well here,if what Sky news reported is true-
They said China had made the rocket and lunar probe from scratch,with no outside help,in 3 years flat.

Pretty good going if thats true.

I wonder if we will get to see any of the images-I imagine China will release some pictures,as they want the world to see how far they have come in terms of technology.

I half expected the rocket to explode on its way up,but I was proved wrong.

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


The Chinese and the Japanese are very good at making electronics as Im sure you know... most of the stuff you use right now to communicate with me is Made in China probably.

Originally posted by Copernicus
reply to post by Silcone Synapse

 

The Chinese and the Japanese are very good at making electronics as Im sure you know... most of the stuff you use right now to communicate with me is Made in China probably.

Note that "made in china" doesnt mean "invented in china" .. its made in china because its cheap. But now the times has changed actually. It becomes more and more expensive to manufacture in china. And that is good for the chineese economy.

cheers

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
China have done well here,if what Sky news reported is true-
They said China had made the rocket and lunar probe from scratch,with no outside help,in 3 years flat.

Pretty good going if thats true.

I wonder if we will get to see any of the images-I imagine China will release some pictures,as they want the world to see how far they have come in terms of technology.

I half expected the rocket to explode on its way up,but I was proved wrong.

Since China has a very healthy space program one would presume that the only gray area would be sling-shotting at the moon and undergoing lunar capture..
still.. it takes initiative to go to the moon..
so good going..

[edit on 25-10-2007 by Daedalus3]

I thought I would post the latest news from China's lunar orbiter here, it is as good a place as any rather than start a new thread.

China's lunar probe Chang'e-1 successfully carried out its first orbital correction Friday morning in a bid to ensure that it travels on the pre-set orbit.

Instructions for the orbital correction was issued by the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) at 10:25 AM Friday, when two small engines on Chang'e-1 were ignited to slightly modulate its trajectory.

Eight minutes later, the two engines stopped working and the orbital correction completed.

"Data show we have reached our expectation through the orbital correction," said Wang Yejun, the BACC's chief engineer.

Chang'e-1 now is moving the earth-moon transfer orbit with the apogee of about 380,000 km and it is expected to reach the moon's orbit at 11:25 AM Monday.

The orbital correction, which was planned to be conducted on Thursday, was canceled as the probe was traveling on the expected trajectory in an "unexpected precisely" way after it left the earth orbit late Wednesday, said Wang.

www.china.org.cn...




Source

China won't disclose anything. Ever look at their space agency website? It's still a backwards country which is anti-human rights, they jail reporters and some other gov't programs like '1 child' are sorta dictatorial.

There does not seem to be any posts regarding China's official standpoint regarding information from Chang e 1 so I thought I would post what I found here.

But Luan Enjie, chief commander of China's lunar orbiter project, said that "China will not be involved in moon race with any other country and in any form."

"China will, in the principle of pursuing a policy of peaceful use of airspace, share the achievements of the lunar exploration with the whole world," he told Xinhua.

Source

Now that is there statement so we can only wait and see.

Any more news or better still pictures I intend to post here rather than start a new thread and I hope everyone else does too.

Originally posted by Copernicus
The probe will be around the moon for a year, using x-ray spectrometers to map the entire surface completely. Very cool, and I believe that it will be difficult to hide the moon base from the Chinese.

So 'x-ray spectrometer' images will appear how to the naked eye?

India is also launching its own in April. How long can they keep the truth secret?

I will answer that after the images from the three start coming in. I still do not understand why the japanese HD TV cannot be live... After all we had 'live' tv from Apollo 11... so whats the hold up?

But its great you started a thread on this one... As Sherpa said... better to keep them separate... Keep me posted on developments... its impossible to track everything happening right now... It should be an interesting next few months

Flagged and Stared


Russia-China Deal Makes NASA Uneasy
10 September 2001

NASA has no ties with China, but shares technology and training principles with Russia to effectively operate the station from Moscow and Houston. Analysts suggest Russia could funnel that information to China.

Any improvements in Chinese rockets means more reliable and more threatening Chinese nuclear missiles.

"The Chinese space program is a military program using military hardware and overseen by the military," said Charles Vick, space policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.-based Federation of American Scientists.

www.space.com...

Yup Way to Go China!

ummmm errrr yipes!!!

[edit on 4-11-2007 by zorgon]

Originally posted by Copernicus
reply to post by Silcone Synapse

 

The Chinese are very good at making electronics as Im sure you know... most of the stuff you use right now to communicate with me is Made in China probably.

Based largely off of american manufacturer designs, mr.compernicus. And this is all made possible thanks to chinas slave labor.

China's lunar probe enters moon orbit
2 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — China's maiden lunar probe successfully entered the moon's orbit on Monday, officials said, a critical step in its year-long mission to photograph and map the surface of the celestial body.

"We have basically succeeded in entering lunar orbit," Wang Yejun, head mission engineer said on China Central Television.

"We still need to go through all the data and ensure that the satellite arrived in lunar orbit in good shape."

afp.google.com...

Moon mission not for military use: China

“All of the goals are designed without military purposes,” China National Space Administration spokesman Pei Zhaoyu said at a news conference in Beijing. “We hope to create new scientific goals and technological capacities and capabilities and try to do something that nobody has ever done before,” Pei said. “China has always adhered to the principle of peaceful use of space.”

www.dailytimes.com.pk...

"try to do something that nobody has ever done before"
I wonder what THAT means?

After launch of moon probe, China plays down talk of space race in Asia

n 2003, China became only the third country in the world after the United States and Russia to put its own astronauts into space.

But China also alarmed the international community in January when it blasted an old satellite into oblivion with a land-based anti-satellite missile.

Pei dodged a question about the anti-satellite weapon, but gave the budget for the engineering stage of the lunar program as $187 million.

canadianpress.google.com...

[edit on 5-11-2007 by zorgon]

Latest update:

China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, will perform its second braking at about 11:00 AM on Nov. 6, according to a spokesman with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Monday afternoon.

The second braking will slow down the probe's speed to 1.8 km per second to help it enter a 3.5-hour orbit with a perilune of 200 km and an apolune of 1,700 km, Pei Zhaoyu, the spokesman, told a press conference here.

The probe is expected to brake for the third time at around 8:00 AM on Nov. 7, which will further slow down its speed to 1.59 km per second to make it enter a 127-minute round polar circular orbit, which is also its final destination where Chang'e is supposed to start "working" formally, Pei said.

Chang'e-1 will then stay a year in the round orbit, which is 200 km from the moon's surface, for scientific explorations.

Chang'e-1 completed its first braking, which slowed down its speed to 1.948 km per second, and entered the moon's orbit at around 11:37 AM on Monday.

The probe is now traveling along a 12-hour elliptical moon orbit, with a perilune of about 210 km and an apolune of about 8,600 km.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2007)

Source

Latest update:

Chang'e I, China's first lunar orbiter, officially began exploring the moon Monday evening, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.

Its sensing equipment was due to become operational after the orbiter oriented its solar panel toward the sun so it can generate its own power and swung its directional antenna toward the Earth to transmit data.

The satellite is equipped with a stereo camera and interferometer, an imager and gamma/X-ray spectrometer, a laser altimeter, a microwave detector, a high-energy solar particle detector and a low-energy ion detector.

The satellite is expected to relay back its first pictures of the moon before the end of this month.

Chang'e I will not be able to relay back pictures immediately because scientists will have to take some time tweaking the equipment, Pang Zhihao, a researcher with the China Academy of Space Technology, was quoted by the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning News as saying.

By way of example, he said the aperture of the orbiter's camera will have to be adjusted to light available in space.

Factors such as the distance between the orbiter and the lunar surface will also have to be factored into the process, he said.

Pang said the images taken by Chang'e I will be wider than those snapped by Japan's lunar probe.

Those pictures were released on November 7.

The best of the images captured by Chang'e I will be released to the public before the end of this month, he said.

The satellite entered the 127-minute polar circular orbit about 200 km above the moon's surface on November 7.

It had circled the moon 135 times as of 2 pm on Sunday, CNSA spokesman Pei Zhaoyu said on Sunday.

The orbiter is under direct control for at least 15 hours a day, monitored by tracking stations in Qingdao, Shandong Province, and Kashgar, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as well as a station operated by the European Space Agency.

Since Chang'e I entered its present orbit, it has undergone a number of tests to determine whether it is working properly.

The satellite appears to be functioning smoothly.

Source

Update:

First picture released today.

Last Updated: Monday, 26 November 2007, 11:38 GMT

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China unveils Moon probe images

The image was pieced together from 19 separate pictures
China has revealed the first pictures of the Moon captured by the unmanned module it launched a month ago.
The images from the Chang'e I probe were hailed as a milestone in Chinese space exploration, after the success of satellites and manned space flights.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said the mission showed China was "fully able to stand tall among the world's ranks of advanced nations".

The probe is expected to orbit the Moon for a year scanning its entire surface.

The new image, pieced together from 19 different pictures of the Moon's surface, was unveiled by Mr Wen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC).

He said the mission was helping to realise China's ancient dream of reaching the moon

Source

It's very clear that this is intended to be a (photographic) shot heard round the world. And well it should be.

China's first picture from the moon, returned by its Chang'e lunar probe, was unveiled by Premier Wen Jiabao in a morning ceremony today. Framed and blown up to the size of the officials on stage, the black-and-white, cratered photo was meant to show that the country is now one of the "select few powers that have the capabilities to engage in deep-space exploration," according to state news agency Xinhua.

Source

Here is my thread dedicated to any/all pictures that will come from this probe:

images from china's "chang'e 1"...

reply to post by they see ALL


What's wrong with this thread?

I think a thread for the images from the "Chang'e I" is enough.

I know it was weirder than a very weird thing to me as well.

Who knows the arcane mysteries of they see ALL.

Originally posted by zorgon
I still do not understand why the japanese HD TV cannot be live... After all we had 'live' tv from Apollo 11... so whats the hold up?

Ummm you do realize that there is a huge differance between the Apollo live tv to the Kaguya HDTV? The amount of data one needs to send back is huge when compared to the live Apollo footage. It would suck up all the probes bandwidth and even then it couldn't do it live if it wanted to. From what I've read, it takes about 20 minutes to send back 1 minutes worth of video.