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China will launch its "moonwalker" by the end of the year



According to Chinese news resources, China has confirmed its intention to launch a spacecraft to the moon this year, which will travel, if I may say so, the surface of the natural satellite of the Earth. The Chinese do not disclose technical details, but it is known that the "Lunokhod" will be called Chang'e-3. As is known, in 2007 and 2010, China launched the spacecraft Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 into the lunar orbit.

Now, according to the Chinese, the project Chang'e-3 has already entered the final stage of implementation. Despite the fact that the exact launch date is not called, most likely, the device will fly to the moon in December of this year. It will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
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As for the functionality and design of the device, it is more or less open information. For example, Wikipedia provides the following information :

Specifications

The satellite of the Moon sounding "Chang'e-3" consists of two parts - the lunar rover and lunar rover. The moon rover (rover) is delivered to the moon on the upper plane of the landing stage with four landing legs and two solar panels. From it, he travels to the platform with the gangway, which plays the role of a kind of elevator. Down from the top position to the bottom, it will allow the lunar rover to slide to the ground.

At the landing stage there are three panoramic cameras and a device for studying the lunar soil. The moon landing device will be used to capture the surface during a hangup of up to 100 seconds and select the final moon landing point.
Moon rover

Lunokhod has 6 wheels. Lunokhod's mass is 100 kg (according to other data 120). The lunar rover, powered by two solar panels, will be equipped with two pairs of cameras (navigation and panoramic), an alpha X-ray spectrometer and an infrared spectrometer, the sensitive elements of which will be placed on the manipulator. In addition, a radar will be mounted on its bottom part, which makes it possible to study the structure of the soil to a depth of about 30 meters and the crust of the Moon to a mark of several hundred meters.

Diving apparatus

The mass of the device (Lander) is 100 kg.

The moon landing apparatus will carry a camera in the short-wavelength UV range, designed to observe the terrestrial ionosphere in the 30.4 nm band in order to study the space weather, solar activity, the state of the Earth’s magnetic field and particle fluxes in the ionosphere. It will also be equipped with a near-UV optical telescope for astronomical observations, whose objects will be binary stars, short-period variables, active galactic nuclei, etc.

Mission Features

During the Chang'e-3 mission, a space telescope based on the moon will be installed for the first time. The lunar rover will be equipped for the first time with a 360-degree panoramic camera, an infrared spectrometer and an X-ray spectrometer.

It is worth noting that while the US government cuts down the NASA budget, the Chinese government, on the contrary, pumps significant financial resources into its own space program. China plans to create its own orbital space station, as well as sending a man to the moon (in 2020).

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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/191942/


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