China lands wheeled lunar rover on the Moon becoming only the third nation to do so

by | Dec 16, 2013 | China, exploration, Science, Seradata News, Technology | 0 comments

At 1311 GMT on 14 December, China’s space programme managed to land its first rover exploration vehicle on another body when its Chang’e 3 lander touched down on the Moon.   Following a breaking burn to reduce the velocity of the craft from 1.7km/s to approach velocity, the craft came into a hover at about 100m altitude while checks were made that a landing zone was clear of debris.   A successful landing took hen place at the Bay of Rainbows (Sinus Iridium).

China's Yutu rover is televised rolling onto the lunar surface. Courtesy: China National Space Administration (CNSA)

China’s Yutu rover is televised rolling onto the lunar surface. Courtesy: China National Space Administration (CNSA)

The electrically powered unmanned rover named Yutu (Jade Rabbit) was driven off the lander over seven hours later at 2035 GMT allowing China to become only the third nation after USA and Russia to drive a wheeled rover vehicle on the Moon.  The Yutu rover which is named from Chinese lunar myth, carries several scientific instruments is to undertake a three month mission of exploration.

Yutu lunar rover showing the Chinese national flag and telecommunications dish on the Moon. Courtesy: CNSA/CCTV

Yutu lunar rover showing the Chinese national flag and telecommunications dish on the Moon. Courtesy: CNSA/CCTV

Comment by David Todd:  It was the landing itself was the most impressive feet in this mission.  China has now demonstrated that it has the technology to land its astronauts (“taikonauts) on the Moon.   As such China remains only just behind USA and ahead of Russia if it wants to return humanbs to the moon first.

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5falcon 9ULARoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationBeidouawardsspaceRocket LabStarlinkBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonAirbus DSboeingISROCargo Return VehiclemarsblogresearchOneWebspaceshiptwoorionjaxaimpacthyperboladelaymarsEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsat2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiomissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbittestinternetChina Manned Space EngineeringAriane 5Northrop GrummanSLSLong March 2D/2sts-122Electronflightspace tourism2010cotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4Cbuildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1aProton Minternational astronautical congressshuttleEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositeshanleybudgetspace shuttlerulesnew yorkAriane 6shenzhouatvVietnamcongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKnew shepardInmarsatGuiana Space Centeriaccneslunar landerksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BILSUS Air ForceprotonApolloTalulah RileydarpaFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Kuaizhou 1AVega CSkylonAstriumeupicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatNorth KoreaSSLElectron KSAprilSNC50thinterviewfalconSea LaunchLong MarchWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor