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Chang'e 5 test vehicle flying on to Earth-Moon L2 | The Planetary Society

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla

03-11-2014 12:21 CST

Topics: mission status, Chang'E program

The Chang'e 5 test sample return capsule successfully returned to Earth last week. But the sample return capsule wasn't the only spacecraft on the mission; there was also a service module, a spacecraft based upon the design of Chang'e 1 and 2. Today I learned that the Chang'e 5 test vehicle service module did not follow the sample return capsule into Earth's atmosphere. Instead, it successfully performed a divert maneuver, and is now on its way to the Earth-Moon L2 point, a gravitationally stable location beyond the Moon from which the spacecraft could be steered to any number of other destinations.


Wikimedia commons

Lagrangian points
From Wikipedia: given two massive bodies in circular orbits around their common center of mass, there are five positions in space where a third body, of comparatively negligible mass, could be placed which would then maintain its position relative to the two massive bodies. As seen in a rotating reference frame with the same period as the two co-orbiting bodies, the gravitational fields of two massive bodies combined with the centrifugal force are in balance at the Lagrangian points, allowing the third body to be stationary with respect to the first two bodies.​
 
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Keep going Chang'e 5 T1 :china:

So the dome-shaped capsule has returned home safely now in the lab
The service capsule began her hard working journey after separation :smitten:

Good luck :tup::victory1:

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Next Mission:

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Chang'e 5 test vehicle flying on to Earth-Moon L2 | The Planetary Society

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla

03-11-2014 12:21 CST

Topics: mission status, Chang'E program

The Chang'e 5 test sample return capsule successfully returned to Earth last week. But the sample return capsule wasn't the only spacecraft on the mission; there was also a service module, a spacecraft based upon the design of Chang'e 1 and 2. Today I learned that the Chang'e 5 test vehicle service module did not follow the sample return capsule into Earth's atmosphere. Instead, it successfully performed a divert maneuver, and is now on its way to the Earth-Moon L2 point, a gravitationally stable location beyond the Moon from which the spacecraft could be steered to any number of other destinations.

a9e0303b96315cb743fddb4b140b811c.png
Wikimedia commons

Lagrangian points
From Wikipedia: given two massive bodies in circular orbits around their common center of mass, there are five positions in space where a third body, of comparatively negligible mass, could be placed which would then maintain its position relative to the two massive bodies. As seen in a rotating reference frame with the same period as the two co-orbiting bodies, the gravitational fields of two massive bodies combined with the centrifugal force are in balance at the Lagrangian points, allowing the third body to be stationary with respect to the first two bodies.​



There is more to Ms Emily Lakdawalla's article and some follow-up comments which make
the continuing mission of Chang'e 5 T1 more intriguing. I have extracted some paragraphs from Ms Lakdawalla's writing and other sources which are very interesting below:


"China has already performed this tricky piece of navigation once before, with the Chang'e 2 lunar orbiter; they sent it to the Earth-Moon L2 and then onward to fly by near-Earth asteroid Toutatis.

According to China Military Online, that's not the plan for the Chang'e 5 test vehicle service module. Instead, it will stay at L2 for a little while and then enter lunar orbit, "in order to verify Chang'e 5 tasks related to flight control technology." I'm not exactly sure what that means. One thing it does mean is that China will soon have an operational orbiter at the Moon, in addition to the still-functional Chang'e 3 lander
(Yutu) .

We do not yet know where they plan to send the Chang'e 4 or Chang'e 5 landers. (We don't even know if the spacecraft known as Chang'e 4 will even launch at all.) But if you'll allow me to indulge in a little bit of speculation, I can think of one excellent reason to have a lunar orbiter in place when you are planning future landed missions. With an orbiter, you could conceivably land something in a place you cannot see from Earth -- namely,
the lunar farside. :cheesy::super:

I can point you (thanks to a tip posted here) to a Chinese discussion forum where other people are speculating about the same thing -- if not for Chang'e 4 or 5, possibly even for Chang'e 6, the presumed backup to Chang'e 5. But that's pretty far in the future, and, admittedly, a long chain of speculation.

Why would a landing on, or sample return from, the farside be so cool? A large fraction of the farside is swallowed up in the
South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the biggest impact basins in the solar system.

As one of the biggest holes in the solar system, it likely excavated lunar mantle; so there'd be the chance to see what rocks from deep inside a terrestrial planet look like (and, more importantly, what they are made of). It's also very, very far from the Imbrium impact basin, whose ejecta reached pretty much the entire nearside, possibly affecting all the Apollo samples.

Is the lunar farside in the plans for future Chinese landers? I don't know. But I really, really hope so!

Comments:
Dwayne Day: 11/03/2014 04:57 CST

The plans for CE-4 remain a big question mark in my view. Assuming that it includes a rover, I would assume that China would like to gain more experience. CE-3 was an impressive mission, but there is a lot more they could have done with Yutu, and gaining extended rover experience would have a good payoff.


Another question is if they plan on including a rover with CE-5. That could improve sample collection, but it would add complexity, so gaining more rover experience would be a plus.

Finally, I'd add that a South Pole-Aitken Basin sample return mission was highly rated by the U.S. planetary science decadal survey. If the Chinese read and agreed with that report, they could perform a high value scientific mission before the United States conducts it. That would be a real scientific achievement to brag about.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole–Aitken_basin

The South Pole–Aitken basinis a huge impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Roughly 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) in diameter and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It is the largest, oldest and deepest basin recognized on the Moon.[1] It was named for two features on opposing sides; the crater Aitken on the northern end and the southern lunar pole at the other end. The outer rim of this basin can be seen from Earth as a huge chain of mountains located on the lunar southern limb, sometimes called "Leibnitz mountains", although this name has not been considered official by the International Astronomical Union.


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Topographical map of the South Pole-Aitken basin based on Kaguya data. Red represents high elevation, purple low elevation. The purple and grey elliptical rings trace the inner and outer walls of the basin. (The black ring is an old artifact of the image.)


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South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, the biggest and most ancient lunar basin. Arrow identifies the location of interesting wrinkled ridges within Aitken crater. Image width is 250 km. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

South Pole – Aitken Basin Landing Site Database | Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute



 
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China publishes Earth, Moon photos taken by lunar orbiter - China - Chinadaily.com.cn
(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-11-10 17:12

BEIJING -- China on Monday published photos of the Earth and Moon together taken by the orbiting service module of the country's returned unmanned lunar orbiter.

The photos were taken Sunday by the service module at a point 540,000 km from Earth and 920,000 km from the Moon after it was separated from the return capsule of China's test lunar orbiter on Nov. 1, ending its eight-day mission.

It was the world's first mission to the Moon and back in some 40 years, with China becoming the third nation to do so after the Soviet Union and the United States.

The service module went back into orbit and conducted more tests after the Nov. 1 separation about 5,000 km above Earth, said a statement from China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which released the photos.

Launched Oct. 24, the orbiter traversed 840,000 km in eight days in a mission that saw it go around the far side of the Moon. One of the biggest challenges was a "bounce" during the orbiter's re-entry as it made its way home, as the orbiter must enter the atmosphere at a very precise angle. An error of 0.2 degrees would have rendered the mission a failure.

To help it slow down, the craft is designed to "bounce" off the edge of the atmosphere before re-entering again. The process has been compared to a stone skipping across water, and can shorten the "braking distance" for the orbiter, according to Zhou Jianliang, chief engineer with the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center.

The program is a test run for the final chapter of the country's three-step lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning.

The latest mission is to obtain data and validate re-entry technology such as the heat shield and trajectory design for a future landing on the Moon as part of the Chang'e-5 mission, expected to be launched around 2017 to collect lunar samples and return to Earth. If successful, China will become the third nation to do so.

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China plans to launch about 120 applied satellites

ZHUHAI, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- China will launch around 120 more applied satellites to accommodate economic and social needs, a senior executive of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said on Monday.

However, Yang Baohua, deputy general manager of the corporation, did not specify the period of time over which the launches will span.

The Chinese economy will continue to record relatively high growth, generating more demand for aerospace technologies, Yang said at an international aviation and aerospace forum held in south China's Zhuhai city.

"We will focus on building a self-controlled national space infrastructure that can operate continuously and stably for a long time," Yang added.

China will launch about 70 remote sensing satellites to detect the near-Earth space environment and predict extreme events, according to Yang.

China will also launch about 20 communication satellites to meet communication demand in national security and public services.

In addition, China will launch about 30 navigation satellites to provide accurate and reliable global positioning and navigation services.
 
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Satnews Daily

November 12th, 2014

BeiDou Satellite Ground Station Build Expected In The Antarctic By China


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[SatNews] Originally reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, and added to byAndrew Drabyof the Wauchope Gazette, China has disclosed plans to install a satellite facility in Antarctica, heightening concerns about militarization of the "peaceful" continent.

The Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition will build a base for the BeiDou satellite navigation system this summer, the official Xinhua news agency said. This comes as China escalates its Antarctic involvement, building its fifth station, planning an airstrip, and recently blocking marine reserves that could affect fisheries. The Chinese icebreaker Xue Long is due to arrive in Hobart, Tasmania, coinciding with a post-G20 visit next week by President Xi Jinping, as Tasmania pitches for Antarctic business. Expeditioners will then head south to a continent governed under a treaty that says "Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only," and prohibits activities of a military nature.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has warned of pressures on demilitarization of the frozen south, in part caused by developments such as satellite systems. The BeiDou facility will join others including Norway's Stroll, strategically located in Antarctica to fit their global networks—but which are claimed to breach the Antarctic Treaty.

Norwegian Bard Wormdal, author of The Satellite War, told Fairfax Media, "The Chinese military wants to use BeiDou, for instance, for guiding all sorts of missiles. A BeiDou base in Antarctica makes the system more reliable and precise." He first raised alarm over the Norwegian satellite base at its Troll Antarctic station, which he found had been used by the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. "Warfare today is totally dependent on space and ground stations for satellites," he added. "The new Chinese base installation is part of the militarisation of Antarctica, and a violation of the Antarctic Treaty."

BeiDou is intended to give China independence from other satellite navigation systems, such as the United States' GPS, by 2020. The facility at Great Wall station in Antarctica will include receivers, auxiliary equipment and a reference station key to improving BieDou's accuracy, according to the Chinese enews.com website, where the project leader, Wu Xuefeng, is quoted as saying the BeiDou facility would greatly improve China's Antarctic mapping autonomy and improving the system's precision.

A U.S. study of the BeiDou system found earlier this year it was a strategically important dual-use technology program. "First and foremost (it is) intended to enable the Chinese military to conduct modern war, but is also recognized as supporting the development of a new commercial industry vital to China's national infrastructure," said the study's author, the University of California's Kevin Pollpeter, who also told Fairfax he would be surprised if China had military designs on the Antarctic, or that BeiDou was part of such an ambition. "Other countries use GPS for their research in the Antarctic and I suspect Chinese researchers plan to do the same type of research, but with BeiDou," Mr. Pollpeter said. "Unlike GPS, which has an accuracy of several meters, BeiDou has a 10 meter accuracy, but that is being improved in China and other countries with the installation of reference stations that boost accuracy to one meter."

Antarctic political analyst Alan Hemmings, of the University of Canterbury, said the 1959 treaty was ambivalent, as it allowed for nations to use military logistical support. "The essential difference is whether it will be used for peaceful purposes, and that's quite hard to prove against, without compelling evidence," Dr. Hemmings said.

Satnews Publishers: Daily Satellite News
 
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Russia to place GLONASS monitoring stations in China

November 11, 18:31 UTC+3

The facilities may be placed in China's Urumqi and Changchun

MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. The Russian Space Systems company, a leading Russian enterprise in design, production and operation of space information systems, has unveiled plans for deploying several GLONASS satellite navigation system monitoring stations in China for use in transport, farming, rescue operations, environment monitoring and law enforcement. The facilities may be placed in Urumqi (the administrative center of the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Area) and Changchun, the capital of Jilin province.

Russian Space Systems CEO Andrey Tyulin has said joint surveying of the sites for the distribution of works will begin in December.

He explained that the RSS and Chinese partners would cooperate in the mutual placement of positioning ground stations in Russia and China for GLONASS and China’s Beidou.

In Russia, 19 ground stations provide consumers with a navigation signal with an accuracy of one meter. Three stations are located in the Antarctic, and one in Brazil. Two are to be created in Kazakhstan and one in Belarus, the RSS said.

The orbital station GLONASS consists of 28 satellites, including the twenty four Glonass-M satellites that are in active service. One is under the supervision of the general designer, two remain in the reserve and one Glonass-K is in the test phase.

The launch of a second space satellite of the new generation Glonass-K is scheduled for December. The GLONASS system is being created on orders from the Defence Ministry.

China’s navigation system Beidou is to be deployed by 2017, and by 2020 it is expected to provide global coverage. For this China is to build up the constellation of satellites to 35. Since the end of 2012 the Chinese system accessed the foreign markets: Beidou began to be introduced in Thailand with the construction of positioning stations. In 2014-2015 China plans to expand cooperation with Myanmar and Malaysia and to expand the market in Africa and the Middle East. Beidou is available to most Chinese army units starting from the regimental level upwards.
 
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BeiDou system to set ASEAN Data and service center in Malaysia - Daily CNSS - | China Shipping Service
Nov 11, 2014

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Malaysian Investment Development Authority director-general Datuk Azman visited Wuhan Optics Valley Beidou Holding Group CO., LTD (Optics Valley BeiDou)on November 10, and the two sides reached agreement of setting Beidou ASEAN Data and service center in Malaysia.

This service center can provide services and products to various industries and fields such as disaster warning,vehicle navigation,precision farming,maritime search and rescue, intelligent port, mineral security and intelligent transportation in entire ASEAN region.

Optics Valley BeiDou is a platform for China's national spatial information industry to export technologies and to provide technological assistance to other countries and regions.

Experts from Wuhan Academy of Social Science said that the cooperation between Beidou and Malaysia is expected to further speed up the expansion of the application of BeiDou System in ASEAN region and also to contribute to serve the strategy of “One Belt and One Road”.

Furthermore, Optics Valley BeiDou is also actively expanding the cooperation with countries such as Mexico, Russia, Brunei,Cambodia, Sri Lanka and so on.
 
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Untill to 2020, 30x BeiDou satellites will cover whole earth.
 
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China launches new remote sensing satellite

2014-11-15 08:42 Xinhua Web Editor: Gu Liping
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A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying the Yaogan-23 remote sensing satellite blasts off from the launch pad at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, Nov. 14, 2014. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

China launched the Yaogan-23 remote sensing satellite into scheduled orbit at 2:53 a.m. on Saturday Beijing Time from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

The satellite will mainly be used for scientific experiments, natural resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief.

It was carried by a Long March-2C rocket, marking the 198th mission for the Long March rocket family.

China launched the first satellite in the "Yaogan" series, Yaogan-1, in 2006.

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Nothing beats witchcraft long before man created any craft they existed. If china can buiild it they will join the invisible race
 
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