China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe will launch in the first week of December. If it successfully lands on the Moon, it will be the first probe from any country to do so in 37 years.
The Chinese space agency will be launching its Lunar probe Chang'e-3 from its Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 1:30 am local time, December 2 (12:30pm EDT on December 1). If successful, the probe will land on the surface of the Moon on December 14, and it will be the first landing on the Moon (as opposed to deliberate crashing of orbital satellites) of a probe from any country since the USSR's Luna 24 probe landed in 1976.
There are two parts to the Chang'e-3 probe: a lander also a robotic rover which is nicknamed "Yutu" (or "Jade Rabbit.") The rover was named "Yutu" after the Chinese space agency conducted an online poll for names. "Yutu" was the name of the pet rabbit of the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. The probe will land at the "Sea of Rainbows" on the Moon.
Yutu is an autonomous Lunar rover, meaning that it will "drive itself" for the most part, surveying the Moon's surface. Scientists in the Chinese space program will also be able to control the rover from Earth.
The European Space Agency will be assisting the Chinese with their efforts to reach the Moon from their station in Kourou, French Guiana, which will be used to route communications from the Chinese space agency to the probe shortly after the launch. The ESA will help China track the probe throughout the duration of the flight.
"We are proud that the expertise of our ground station and flight dynamics teams and the sophisticated technologies of our worldwide Estrack network can assist China to deliver a scientifically important lander and rover to the Moon," says ESA’s Thomas Reiter in a press release.
Once on the surface of the Moon, the Yutu rover is expected to be active for about three months. If the Chang'e-3 mission is successful, then China will begin its next phase of lunar operations. Up next? A Lunar rover that lands on the Martian surface, collects samples, and returns to Earth.
Assuming that China's Moon missions go according to schedule (and so far, they have) the country will put a person on the Moon some time in 2025.
(Image: Artist's conception of the Chinese Lunar rover 'Yutu' on the surface of the Moon. Credit: CNSA)
