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.
It was night in China when a rover and a lander were launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center starting the Chang’e 4 mission. After about half an hour, lander and rover, after successfully separating from the rocket’s third stage entered the orbit where they’ll start the series of maneuvers that will bring them en route to the Moon.
At a press conference, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the new plans for the return to the Moon with the inclusion of a number of private companies that will have the chance to provide their services to send various types of payload. The program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) could start as early as 2019 and represents a first step towards a long-term goal, that is to establish a permanent presence on the Moon with an eye to Mars.
NASA has confirmed that its InSight lander has landed on Mars after completing a procedure that’s fully automated as radio signals from Mars take just over eight minutes to reach the Earth in this period. InSight was launched on May 5, 2018. Unlike other landers and rovers, it will study the red planet’s interior to better understand its composition and its geological history.
NASA has activated all the possibilities of close study of the global dust storm that is affecting the planet Mars. This type of event usually occurs once every three or four Martian years (between six and eight Earth’s years) but it is still unclear how a dust storm that starts on a small scale can grow to the point of enveloping the entire planet. Space probes in orbit are studying the phenomenon in various ways and the Mars Rover Curiosity is collecting data on the ground while the situation of the Mars Rover Opportunity is difficult because it can’t use its solar panels so it went into hibernation.
