China was preparing to launch a ground-breaking mission early Saturday to soft-land a spacecraft on the largely unexplored far side of the moon, demonstrating its growing ambitions as a space power to rival Russia, the European Union and U.S.
With its Chang'e 4 mission, China hopes to become the first country to ever successfully undertake such a landing. The moon's far side is also known as the dark side because it faces away from Earth and remains comparatively unknown, with a different composition from sites on the near side, where previous missions have landed.
If successful, the mission scheduled to blast off aboard a Long March 3B rocket will propel the Chinese space program to a leading position in one of the most important areas of lunar exploration.
China is trying to reach a milestone in space exploration: landing a vehicle on the far side of the moon for the first time in history.
The mission is one in a series that underscore the country’s ambitions to join — and even lead — the space race. The spacecraft, whose landing could come Thursday, is called Chang’e-4 after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology.
Chang’e-4 would be the first to touch down on the side of the moon that perpetually faces away from the Earth.
“This space mission shows that China has reached the advanced world-class level in deep space exploration,”
* * *
China plans to begin fully operating its third space station by 2022, to put astronauts in a lunar base by later in that decade, and to send probes to Mars, including ones that could return samples of the Martian surface back to Earth.
The crater where the Chinese were to land is the oldest and deepest on the moon, so the probe’s discoveries could offer insights into the moon’s origins and evolution. And some scientists suspect that the surrounding basin may be rich in minerals. If exploiting the moon’s resources is the next step in space development, a successful mission could leave the Chinese better positioned.
An image taken by China's Chang'e-4 probe after its landing CREDIT: AP
A Chinese spacecraft has made the first successful landing ever on the far side of the moon, a mission seen as an important step as the country looks to push forward its space programme.
The lunar explorer Chang'e 4 touched down at 10:26 am and relayed a photo of the "dark side" of the moon to the Queqiao satellite, the official China Central Television reported on Thursday.
The moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate that it orbits our planet, so the far side - or the "dark side" - is never visible from Earth. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side of the moon, but none has landed on it.
The landing "lifted the mysterious veil" from the far side of the moon, and "opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration", the broadcaster said.
Location: Where royalty live and horses roam freely
Posts: 5,373
Impressive as this feet is,
China will declare the moon part of their republic of communist China.. Would be interesting to see if China goes to the moon landing site and clears it of any historical landing evidence.
Time for the US to send some Democrats to free the plant
__________________
MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019): 2.6 Ghz 6 core i7/16GBs/1TBSSD
Asus MX27U 27", Matias BackLite Wireless Full size Keyboard
Datto S3X1 1TB SSD w/offsite cloud protection for time machine, Apple MagicPad2
Government jobs / work places : it smells like wet dogs, so do some people that work there. Everyone moves like they were injured!, It's like a low budget rehab centre vmedia sign up linkTesla - referral - free supercharging link
Impressive as this feet is,
China will declare the moon part of their republic of communist China.. Would be interesting to see if China goes to the moon landing site and clears it of any historical landing evidence.
Time for the US to send some Democrats to free the plant
The treaty explicitly forbids any government to claim a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet.[7] Article II of the treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object.[8] The State is also liable for damages caused by its space object.[9]
Of course, all law is mutable... the coming decades and centuries will be interesting in this regard. For those who haven't been watching National Geographic's Mars docu-drama, this season (2) addresses the commercialization of Mars territory and the conflicts with pure science initiatives.
The treaty explicitly forbids any government to claim a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet.[7] Article II of the treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object.[8] The State is also liable for damages caused by its space object.[9]
Of course, all law is mutable... the coming decades and centuries will be interesting in this regard. For those who haven't been watching National Geographic's Mars docu-drama, this season (2) addresses the commercialization of Mars territory and the conflicts with pure science initiatives.
has not stopped China making man made islands in the ocean to claim it theirs.. China has not and will not follow any treaty or law. Trust me on this.. patents, international oceans are all a joke to the mammoth communist world leaders; now Space leaders..
__________________
MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019): 2.6 Ghz 6 core i7/16GBs/1TBSSD
Asus MX27U 27", Matias BackLite Wireless Full size Keyboard
Datto S3X1 1TB SSD w/offsite cloud protection for time machine, Apple MagicPad2
Government jobs / work places : it smells like wet dogs, so do some people that work there. Everyone moves like they were injured!, It's like a low budget rehab centre vmedia sign up linkTesla - referral - free supercharging link
has not stopped China making man made islands in the ocean to claim it theirs.. China has not and will not follow any treaty or law. Trust me on this.. patents, international oceans are all a joke to the mammoth communist world leaders; now Space leaders..
Of course the USA sets a such sterling example in this area. That of course is straight up pie in the sky thinking, but what the hey.
As to patents and copyrights I am unaware of China signing on to any agreements in these areas. The US is attempting to bully them into it, but doing so is hardly in China's self interest.
__________________ I do not embed ad links. I do not endorse any products which may be linked to my posts. Do not click on those links.
I retain all rights to photo-images I have posted on ehMac. They were posted that other members of the community could enjoy them. They may not be used or sold in any other way without my written consent.
Social Distancing is an Oxymoron. The correct term is Social Demonization or Social Repression. Bandits, thieves and politically correct thugs hide behind masks.
Linear Mode
