China lands robot rover on Moon
China says it has successfully landed a craft carrying a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, a major step in its programme of space exploration.
On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module underwent a powered descent, using thrusters to perform the first soft landing on the Moon in 37 years. Several hours later, the lander will deploy a robotic rover called Yutu, which translates as "Jade Rabbit". The touchdown took place on a flat plain called the Bay of Rainbows.
The mission launched on a Chinese-developed Long March 3B rocket on 1 December from Xichang in the country's south. The Chang'e-3 craft began its descent just after 1300 GMT (2100 Beijing time), with state television showing pictures of the moon's surface as the lander touched down. Staff at mission control in Beijing were shown clapping and celebrating after confirmation came through. The official Xinhua news service reported that the spacecraft reached the surface at 1312 GMT after hovering above the surface for several minutes finding an appropriate place to land.
The probe's soft-landing was the most difficult task during the mission, Wu Weiren, the lunar programme's chief designer, told Xinhua. It is the third robotic rover mission to land on the lunar surface, but the Chinese vehicle carries a more sophisticated payload, including ground-penetrating radar which will gather measurements of the lunar soil and crust.
"It's still a significant technological challenge to land on another world," said Peter Bond, consultant editor for Jane's Space Systems and Industry told the AP news agency. "You have to use rocket motors for the descent and you have to make sure you go down at the right angle and the right rate of descent and you don't end up in a crater on top of a large rock."
According to translated documents, the landing module was to actively reduce its speed at about 15km from the Moon's surface. When it reached a distance of 100m from the surface, the craft fired thrusters to slow its descent. At a distance of 4m, the lander switched off the thrusters and fell to the lunar surface. The Jade Rabbit was expected to be deployed several hours after touchdown, driving down a ramp lowered by the landing module.
