China Lands Rover on the Moon
December 16, 2013
With the touchdown of the Chang’e-3 spacecraft, China has become the third country to “soft land” an unpiloted spacecraft on the moon. In a soft landing, the craft and its equipment are not damaged during the landing and so can be used for observation and scientific experiments. The last unpiloted soft landing on the lunar surface was made in 1976 by a craft launched by the former Soviet Union (now Russia). The Soviet Union also became the first country to soft-land a probe on the moon, in 1966. Surveyor 1, the first soft-lander from the United States, touched down later in 1966. The success of the Change’e mission not only advances Chinese efforts to explore the moon but also efforts to eventually land taikonauts (astronauts) on the lunar surface.
The Chinese rover Jade Rabbit appears on the surface of the moon in a photograph taken by the Chang'e lander. (CCTV.com English)
Several hours after landing, Chang’e-3 released a rover named Jade Rabbit (Yutin in the Mandarin Chinese language). In Chinese mythology, Chang’e is a moon goddess who is accompanied by a jade rabbit. The six-wheeled rover, which weighs about 300 pounds (135 kilograms), is powered by solar energy during the day and batteries at night. It is scheduled to study the geology of the lunar surface and search for minerals and other natural resources for three months. The landing craft is expected to conduct experiments and observations from its touchdown site in Sinus Iridum (the Bay of Rainbows) for a year.
Additional World Book articles:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Space exploration
- Space exploration (2012) (a Back in Time article)
- Space exploration (2008) (a Back in Time article)
- Space exploration (2003) (a Back in Time article)
