Posted on 01/03/2019 2:47:03 PM PST by PIF
The landing is an important stepping stone to manned missions and a possible lunar base, which may have a distinct military purpose.
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China’s has become the first country ever to land a spacecraft on the far side, or “dark side,” of the Moon, a major achievement for its civilian space program. The mission offers numerous scientific research opportunities, but there is also a possibility that it could be another stepping stone to improving and expanding Chinese military capabilities in space.
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The lander itself has various cameras, a spectrometer, and a neutron dosimeter in order to gather scientific data. It has also deployed a mobile rover weighing more than 300 pounds that carries its own electro-optical systems, spectrometer, energetic neutral atom analyzer, and ground-penetrating radar.
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Chang’e 4 is also the latest in the Chang’e series, all of which have been stepping stones toward China’s plans for a manned lunar mission and the potential construction of a semi-permeant outpost on the Moon as part of the overarching Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). The present mission’s scientific research will support studies into the practicality of sending actual humans to the dark side of the moon and potentially leaving them there for protracted periods of time.
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At the same time, there are concerns that China may have more ambitious designs and that these missions could have a military component.
“China has been very clear in its understanding of this. They have compared the moon to the South China Sea and Taiwan, and asteroids to the East China Sea,” Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told The Guardian. “They’re making a very clear geopolitical comparison with what’s happening with space and we need to pay attention to that.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
That’s one rickety looking rickshaw.
Thank you Bill Clintoon and Johnnie Chung.
Ping.
Is communication with the lander “line of sight?” How do they beam info back. Will they bounce communications off of something? Just curious
They already have a communication satellite in Lunar orbit.
Just Propaganda ,nuffin else
I would expect some kind of divot under the rocket nozzle if that is how it landed. Maybe this is old film from hanger 13.
oh. Can we hi-jack or piggyback on it? Asking for a friend.
And don’t forget Mochtar Riady & the Lippo Group
“There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.”
Actually, they benefited from our landing. We were not certain about the consistency of the surface and we had to have more elaborate wheels. Out landing demonstrated that there was just a thin layer of dust.
Very Lego-ish...
So the camera landed first to take pictures of it??
I don’t think anyone’s claiming that’s an actual photograph of the actual thing on the actual dark side of the moon.
Artist rendition.
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