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
·
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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