A success for the Moon landing of the Chinese Chang’e 4 mission’s lander and rover

Photo of the Moon's area where the Chang'e-4 mission landed (Photo courtesy China national space administration)
Photo of the Moon’s area where the Chang’e-4 mission landed (Photo courtesy China national space administration)

The China national space administration has confirmed that the lander and the rover of its Chang’e-4 mission have landed on the hidden face of the Moon today at 2.26 GMT. In the past various space probes took photos of the hidden face from the orbit, but these are the first vehicles that land there. The mission began on December 7 with the launch of the spacecraft that contains lander and the rover.

China is offering limited information on the progress of the Chang’e-4 mission with the consequence that it was possible to follow it only thanks to the authorized press releases and articles based on them. We know that after its launch the spacecraft carried out a series of maneuvers to get out of the Earth’s orbit, it entered the Moon’s orbit on December 12 and began a new series of maneuvers to modify it. When in China it was the morning of December 30, the spacecraft entered an elliptical orbit of preparation for its Moon landing.

It was morning in China when a series of maneuvers lasted about 12 minutes brought the spacecraft to its descent near crater Von Kármán. The area is surrounded by mountains up to 10 kilometers high so it was decided to program a series of maneuvers that would allow the spacecraft to make a vertical descent. The maneuvers were automatic because even the short delay in transmissions managed using the Queqiao satellite as a relay would have prevented remote control.

When the spacecraft reached two kilometers of altitude, the automatic system identified large obstacles such as rocks or craters. At 100 meters above of altitude, it identified smaller obstacles maneuvering to land on a flat area. The landing was successful.

The Chang’e-4 mission is part of the ambitious Chinese program, which is proceeding with a series of steps towards Moon missions with astronauts, or taikonauts to use their word, and the construction of a national space station. China’s progress in this field is taken very seriously and is contributing to the growing tensions between China and the USA. The current economic war between the two nations is only part of their struggle and the space race could be a new front. For years the US Congress cut funds to NASA but the successes of the Chinese in space could overturn this trend and bring many Americans who until now were disinterested in the issue to demand that the USA become once again leaders in space programs.

Hoping that the tension between the two nations doesn’t degenerate, it should be noted that China is showing strong motivations in the development of its access to space, which may also have military implications. For now there’s the Chang’e-4 scientific mission with various analyzes of the area to understand its composition and the possible presence of ice and some experiments, it remains to be seen which results the Chinese authorities will decide to share.

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