Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Lunar Darts: How China's Changing The Game



Those charming little fellows above are the dynamic Chinese Lunar duo, Chang’e-3 and Yutu. Which is which you ask? The little guy is Yutu and the big guy (the lander) is Chang’e-3. Now I know what you’re saying, “yea, cool, moon stuff, been there done that, what’s so game changing about this?” Well it isn’t necessarily that it’s a game changer, more as a regression to a better time.
In recent years NASA has been less concerned with keeping landing units intact when they made contact with the moon. Instead they would play proverbial darts and fling these million dollar scientific marvels toward the smiling rock in the sky and crash them into the surface. Sure they would still be able to gather the data they needed, but the gadget would almost certainly not be making a return trip back to Earth.
That is why this is so cool. In my personal opinion we need more careful monitoring of the moon and neighboring planets in our solar system. In an ever changing world of science and creative minds pushing theories to the limits everyday (CERN and the Hadron Collider anybody?) it’s possible that the universe could be changing just as much as the world around us. There are lots of factors that put stress on these planets, internal and external, that even though we are monitoring from afar, we may not completely see or understand what’s happening. So that’s why I feel this mission is so important.
And it isn’t just important to the scientific community. This mission means a lot for the nation of China as well. Let’s face it, when the space race between the Russians and the United States was in full swing the Chinese were left in the dust due to many factors, economic and social being amongst them. The Russians put a man in space, the U.S. put a man on the moon, and everything lay dormant, until now.
So what do they plan on finding? What’s so special that they need to send an intact rover to the moon? I mean, don’t you think that with putting Neil on the moon it was over? We’ve seen all there is to see? So many questions. Well, let’s at least begin with the ones we can answer, like what it is they’ve accomplished, what they intend to accomplish, and what equipment Yutu is bringing to the party.


Taking Inventory

In a very well written article by AerospaceAmerica they give a very detailed account of all the equipment on the Lander and the Rover. However to keep this blog short enough so as to be palatable I’m just going to talk about the most important stuff. It has two panoramic cameras, x-ray spectrometer, infrared spectrometer, and all the other standard equipment, but the one tool that sets this guy apart from the others, the belly-mounted ground penetrating radar. It can scan detailed regolith imagery up to 90 feet but lunar crust at depths of several hundred feet! This can give us better insight into the interior of the moon. If you’re a nerd like me, that’s pretty cool!
It’s important to note that we have scanned this before but technology has VASTLY improved since the last mission of this kind. The soft-landing rover is going to be able to acquire more sensitive information than our NASA’s dart launches.

The Accomplishments

1.    Chang’e 1

·         Created the most accurate and highest resolution 3-D map ever of the lunar surface.
·         Conducted world's first passive, multi-channel, microwave remote sensing of the moon

2.    Chang’e 2

·         More advanced than Chang’e 1 but with similar initial goals.
·         Higher resolution imagery than Chang’e 1 could provide. More complete and detailed information as well.
·         Became first successful Chinese deep space probe allowing them to test distance control and tracking accurately.’

I feel it’s also important to note that unlike our country China aimed for specific launch date parameters and were able to meet their goals. When China aims for the moon, they certainly plan well and hit their target. Chang’e 3 launched yesterday, Dec. 2nd and I can’t wait to see what wonderful information it brings back and I can only hope China shares its findings with the rest of the scientific community.
Other notable achievements include:

·         The Mao-1’s successful launch in 1970
·         In 2003 the Shenzou-5 made China the third country to send a manned shuttle into orbit for more than 22 hours.


In the next section we’re going to take a quick look at how this game-changing Chang’e craft came into being, how the name was selected, and what makes this name so poetic and beautiful that it scantly compares to the naming of our own spacecraft’s. In a nutshell, this is the story of Chang’e, the Goddess of the moon, and her pet rabbit, Yutu.


The Story of Chang’e and her Pet Yutu


Lots of cultures have had Gods in their theological hierarchy’s that personify the moon. The Greeks had Selene, Tsukuyomi belonged to Japan, and the Egyptian’s had Iah (whose name literally translates to “moon”). But unlike those deities that personify the moon like solar system superheroes, Chang’e only lives on it, with her pet rabbit. (I mean it has to get lonely up there so it makes sense to have a bunny right?) But there’s more to the story than that.
There are several versions but the one I like the best involves Houyi the Archer. They are immortals living in heaven and the Jade Emperor has a problem. His ten sons went rogue and turned into ten suns! (Way to get literal guys…) The Jade Emperor is unable to stop his boys from scorching the Earth so of course he calls on Houyi for help.
Well, Houyi comes down to lend a hand but the Emperor becomes displeased with his tactics. He shoots nine of the sons, leaving one alive to be the last sun in the sky. He banishes him and Chang’e to live on Earth as mortals for the rest of their days. This is kind of unfair, I mean…you did call an archer for help?
Well naturally Chang’e was depressed over this transition and really missed being immortal, so, Houyi, not bearing to see her suffer, attained a pill of immortality. He told her not to meddle in the box until he got home, but by the time he got back she had eaten the pill and began floating toward the heavens. Houyi wanted to shoot her back down with an arrow but couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her, so he let her float away, to the lonely moon.
Now what will she do? She’s on the moon now and her husband is stranded as a mortal on Earth. That’s okay. There’s an apothecary jade rabbit chilling on the moon. The two quickly become best of pals.
Another later companion is Wu Gang, the woodcutter. He offended the Gods in his attempt to become an immortal. As punishment they banish him to the moon and offer him a return trip to Earth if he can chop down a tree growing on the moon. The catch? Every time he chops it, it grows back, effectively banishing him to the moon forever. It could be worse. At least there’s a pretty immortal goddess and a soft potion making bunny!

The name for the mission, and the spacecraft was taken over various social media platforms. Millions of people voted and that was the final decision. That is why I love it so much. Beautiful, simple, straightforward, and poetic.
By 2020 they plan to bring back samples from the moon. After that they will begin their next task. A man on the moon. Godspeed to you China. Thank you for showing us with a little elbow grease and drive, there is still much for us to learn about our harsh mistress in the sky. And as always, live long and prosper.

-Ryan Sanders



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