"...and if the dam breaks open many years too soon..."<p>Perhaps interesting to note the origin of this name for spacecraft. The legend "Chang'e flies to the moon" (嫦娥奔月) lies behind the Mid-Autumn Festival (featuring mooncakes, as it were). Point is, the names of Chinese space missions are every bit as carefully steeped in tradition as, say, Mercury/Gemini/Apollo.
The way they used the L2 point to lasso a relay satellite so they could transmit information from the rover on the far side is stunning too. This was really brilliant, China's space program has really become something.
Copying earlier comment:<p>Wikipedia seems to say the rover mission duration is 3 months, yet the previous rover traveled for a year and transmitted a bit longer. The Chinese seemed quite coy about it failing last time (as with many things) so perhaps underpromising in this case?<p>This all preparation for China's planned permanent radio telescope on the far side which would be a huge boon for astronomers by escaping Earth's EM interference.<p>Also out left field is the 3kg "self sustaining" biosphere of silkworms and plants with a camera inside. Interested to see how long it survives.
Can someone explain how are these types of devices safe from hackers? I mean, it talks back to the space agency, right? Just curious is all. Haven't seen anything related to this question.
Apologies in advance for the (hopefully not) stupid questions from a layperson...<p>How constant is the L2 point for the relay satellite's orbit? If I understand correctly, this is the "balance" point between the earth and sun's gravity. Does the moon's gravity affect this? If so the L2 point will shift as the moon moves towards and away from this point?<p>As the moon orbits the earth, presumably the relay satellite would stay put and not follow the moon in its orbit. This would mean that communication from the lander and rover to the satellite is only possible when the moon is in a particular position (between the earth and the sun), correct?
Israel and India may be sending landers to the Moon too. India has sent orbiters to the Moon and Mars.
<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission_2" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Orbiter_Mission_2</a>
<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-2" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-2</a><p>An Israeli group got pretty far with an entry in the lunar lander XPrize. But the prize reached its deadline dates and expired. I hear they may be shopping for a deep space launch vehicle.
China releases photos from first-ever mission to land on the dark side of the moon<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-dark-side-moon-china-change-4-landing-2019-1" rel="nofollow">https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-dark-side-moon-china-...</a>
Their logo has similarities to a certain sci-fi TV show..<p><a href="https://www.space.com/22743-china-national-space-administration.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.space.com/22743-china-national-space-administrat...</a>
FTA: "In addition to its value as a scientific exploration target, the Moon’s quiet, airless far side makes it one of the best places in the inner solar system for science applications like radio astronomy."<p>It what way is any part of the moon not "quiet and airless" ?
Does China have an equivalent to NASA's Deep Space Network tracking stations? By deploying large antennae in the US, Spain, and Australia, the US was able to maintain 24/7 contact with the space missions. Granted, this isn't a manned mission but I'd still think that they'd want to have continuous comms to their lander.
How much lighter is the lander compared to Apollo moon lander? I mean, how far are the Chinese from sending people to the moon? The Russians landed a Lunokhod too but were very far from sending people to the moon.
It is kind of surprising that the Chinese choose mystical names for their space probes, rather than names of revolutionary origin (I guess Long March, is an exception).
From the NYT article [0] on the topic:
"We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try.” -- someone associated with the Chinese space agency<p>Why so insecure? Not a good look.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/world/asia/china-change-4-moon.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/world/asia/china-change-4...</a>
And until now nobody is complaining how this moon landing was fake because Jim Bridenstine used a 3D simulation instead of a photo. I'm impressed.
The headline should be "China claims to successfully land..." Given the government and business tendency in China to make claims that later turn out to be fabricated nothing they announce should be taken as true without independent verification.