APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

APOD Robot · Post by **APOD Robot** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:06 am

Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon

Explanation: A new desk-sized rover has begun exploring the Moon. Launched two weeks ago by the Chinese National Space Administration, the Chang'e 3 spacecraft landed on the Moon yesterday and deployed the robotic rover. Yutu, named for a folklore lunar Jade Rabbit, has a scheduled three-month mission to explore several kilometers inside the Sinus Iridum (Latin for "Bay of Rainbows") impact crater. Yutu's cameras and spectrometers will investigate surface features and composition while ground penetrating radar will investigate deep soil structure. Chang'e 3 achieved the first soft Moon landing since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and Yutu is the first lunar rover deployed since the USSR's Lunokhod 2 in 1973. Pictured above, Yutu was imaged from its lander yesterday soon after rolling onto the Moon.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[/b]

DBeaulne · Post by **DBeaulne** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:33 am

Gee, the scenery looks like the same background from Apollo....

Could the Apollo truthers be wrong?

Ann · Post by **Ann** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:14 am

You mean the Chinese stole NASA's recording studio???

Ann

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:27 am

The somewhat clearer photo in the second last link in the caption (namely "imaged") ... http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china ... 970111.htm

appears to show that the lander is very close to a steep looking slope and depression. Could it be that the programmer(s) engaged to write the algorithm to select the best landing site in real time, perhaps got a bit lucky?

Boomer12k · Post by **Boomer12k** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:47 am

Awwwwwee.....isn't that cuuuuute!!!

Well, it is quite an achievement. I hope that have good results with it...all Politics aside...

However...WE need to get back into the swing of things....

:---[===] *

metamorphmuses · Post by **metamorphmuses** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:29 am

Congratulations to the Chinese. Anytime any country reaches a spaceflight and exploration milestone such as this one, I celebrate. These achievements are for all of us, not any one nation, in the end.

I hope we'll be getting better imaging soon.

I also hope that China is working up to joining the other nations that have been cooperating to advance spaceflight and exploration. Their contribution would surely help humanity progress.

neufer · Post by **neufer** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:01 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_journey_of_a_thousand_li_starts_beneath_one%E2%80%99s_feet wrote:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

<<A journey of a thousand li starts beneath one’s feet
(Chinese: 千里之行，始于足下; Qiān lĭ zhī xíng, shĭ yú zú xià)
is a famous Chinese quotation is from Chapter 64 of the Dao De Jing ascribed to Laozi.>>

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:04 am

I suppose when impressive space exploration achievements are made, it is easier for citizens of non-space-faring nations, like mine, to celebrate humanity over nationality and avoid the "us and them" mental framework. I like to imagine the dolphins of the world are also quietly enjoying an extra pilchard or two this week, as news filters down to them about the exploits of Chang'e 3 and Yutu. (The chimps are probably happy to have been left alone for this mission, too.)

Congratulations to all involved.

MargaritaMc · Post by **MargaritaMc** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:06 am

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32540
M

biddie67 · Post by **biddie67** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:15 pm

Boomer12k wrote: ...........

Well, it is quite an achievement. I hope that have good results with it...all Politics aside...

However...WE need to get back into the swing of things....

:---[===] *

Yes, all politics aside, I'm glad to see that there is a rover on the moon. I just wish that we (i.e., our country) could have participated.

Now it's 2 "outs" for us ~~ the ISS transportation and more moon exploration. Come on folks, let's get going!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:47 pm

DBeaulne wrote:Gee, the scenery looks like the same background from Apollo....

Could the Apollo truthers be wrong?

And if you look to the right of the rovers track, it is clear that the set designers didn't do a very good job of obscuring their footprints either.

geckzilla · Post by **geckzilla** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:56 pm

I'm citing Poe's Law. It's time to stop joking about moon landing hoaxing.

Tszabeau · Post by **Tszabeau** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:57 pm

Is that, actually, the curvature of the Moon or a result of a wide-angle lens?

Chris Peterson · Post by **Chris Peterson** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:01 pm

Tszabeau wrote:Is that, actually, the curvature of the Moon or a result of a wide-angle lens?

Some combination of the optics and the local landscape. The Moon is far too large to show any curvature for an observer at the surface.

neufer · Post by **neufer** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:27 pm

geckzilla wrote:
I'm citing Poe's Law.

"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor,
it is utterly impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way
that someone won't mistake for the genuine article."

Does a smiling avatar count

geckzilla · Post by **geckzilla** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:31 pm

In the case of a goofy grinning avatar, the challenge is to figure out when the individual is being serious.

eltodesukane · Post by **eltodesukane** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:52 pm

This is the 1st landing on the Moon since 1976 (Luna-24).
Quite a shame really that it took so long to go back.

Anthony Barreiro · Post by **Anthony Barreiro** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:34 pm

metamorphmuses wrote:Congratulations to the Chinese. Anytime any country reaches a spaceflight and exploration milestone such as this one, I celebrate. These achievements are for all of us, not any one nation, in the end.

I hope we'll be getting better imaging soon.

I also hope that China is working up to joining the other nations that have been cooperating to advance spaceflight and exploration. Their contribution would surely help humanity progress.

According to the wikipedia article on the International Space Station Program, an intergovernmental agreement among NASA (USA), Roskosmos (Russia), ESA (European Union), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada), China has expressed interest in joining the International Space Station but the US has objected.

It seems that space programs at first are a source of national pride, then they become commercial enterprises. Hopefully we'll get to the point where all humanity is collaborating on space exploration. It may take a while longer to figure out joint missions with the dolphins.

magenrod · Post by **magenrod** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:26 pm

What is all that on the ground which appears to be debris ,trash, or something else ??

FelicityFinklebottom · Post by **FelicityFinklebottom** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 11:23 pm

Can anyone check the route of the photo's transmission once it landed on earth? Seems like someone blurred the photo to make Chinese technology look bad.

FelicityFinklebottom · Post by **FelicityFinklebottom** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 11:23 pm

Can anyone check the route of the photo's transmission once it landed on earth? Seems like someone blurred the photo to make Chinese technology look bad.

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:45 am

FelicityFinklebottom wrote:Can anyone check the route of the photo's transmission once it landed on earth? Seems like someone blurred the photo to make Chinese technology look bad.

It looks kinda like the result of a video camera filming a projection onto a screen, or something like that. I recall (vaguely from some documentary) that a similar thing happened with the live images broadcast of the Apollo 11 landing. Possibly a last minute technical glitch or some overlooked technical incompatibility.

Anthony Barreiro · Post by **Anthony Barreiro** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:55 am

magenrod wrote:What is all that on the ground which appears to be debris ,trash, or something else ??

The area where this spacecraft landed, Sinus Iridum, is an ancient lava flow.

Over billions of years the lava has deteriorated into fine dust -- without liquid water or an atmosphere, erosion happens much more slowly on the Moon than here on Earth, but charged particles and radiation from the Sun will eventually break down rock. We can see a small crater in the upper right hand corner of today's picture. The impacts of asteroids and meteoroids that caused this and other craters kicked up rocks that fell back to the surface of the Moon at varying distances from the original impacts. So I would guess that most of the debris we see in this photo are ejecta from crater impacts.

Or they could be hamburger wrappers carelessly dropped by the stagehands who built the set on which this scene was filmed.

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:14 am

Anthony Barreiro wrote:The area where this spacecraft landed, Sinus Iridum, is an ancient lava flow.

Interesting ... I just noticed that Wikipedia now says this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang'e_3

Topographic data from the Chang'e 1 and 2 orbiters were used to select a landing site for Chang'e 3. The planned landing site was announced to be Sinus Iridium [sic], however, the lander descended on Mare Imbrium, about 40 km south of the 6 km diameter Laplace F crater, at 44.1260°N 19.5014°W on 14 December 2013.

(This puts the landing site about midway between Montes Recti and the 20km diameter crater Le Verrier.)

Nitpicker · Post by **Nitpicker** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:39 am

: Taken from my back yard in poor seeing conditions, about a minute before reported landing time

Starship Asterisk*

APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

One first step.

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)

Re: APOD: Yutu Rover Rolls onto the Moon (2013 Dec 16)