Fwd: China's Secret Moon Mission

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 23, 2014 4:10:06 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: China's Secret Moon Mission

 

China's Secret Moon Mission
by Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 23, 2014

illustration only

Soon, a rocket will launch a Chinese spacecraft to the Moon and back. It's the first time that China has attempted this long and perilous journey. It should be a great achievement for the nation, worthy of extensive publicity. Ironically, this mission has been shrouded in more obscurity than the "secret" X-37B spaceplane operated by the US Air Force, which even had its re-entry pre-announced and covered extensively on video.

It would seem that Chinese President Xi Jinping is tightening the screws on "state secrets" even more than he did in the past. Censorship of China's space program increased soon after he took office, and the situation seems to have deteriorated even further. But there could be other reasons why this specific mission is being treated with such caution by China's state media.

Let's get through some technical details. The spacecraft will probably not enter orbit around the Moon, despite precise statements made in the Chinese media that previously suggested this. It's flying a free-return trajectory that should take slightly over a week to return home.

The capsule to be used in this mission is a scale model of the descent module used on the Shenzhou astronaut-carrying spacecraft. The "service module" for the spacecraft is a boxy satellite bus based on the Chang'e lunar orbiter design. The spacecraft will be launched by a Long March 3C rocket, similar to the one used for the last Chang'e orbiter launch.

The lack of discussion hints at a sensitive agenda for the mission. Officially, this is a test of a capsule to be used in a future robot sample-return mission to the Moon. China has made no secret of its plans to fly two such missions within a decade. But the type of capsule used in this mission is suspicious. Why does it have to be a replica of China's astronaut capsule?

This analyst feels that the mission is yet further evidence of plans for launching Chinese astronauts to the Moon in the future. The first astronauts to be launched there will probably fly a circumlunar trajectory, similar to this mission.

They will not land on the Moon and they will not even orbit the Moon. But they will go to the Moon and back. That's something America hasn't done in more than 40 years, and something Russia has never done at all. The propaganda value of such a mission would be enormous!

Let's see how China deals with this increasingly enigmatic space mission. There's more going on than a cursory glance would suggest!

Dr Morris Jones is an Australian space analyst who has written for spacedaily.com since 1999. Email morrisjonesNOSPAMhotmail.com. Replace NOSPAM with @ to send email. Dr Jones will answer media inquiries.

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First Private Moon Mission to Launch on Chinese Rocket Today

By Mike Wall, Senior Writer   |   October 23, 2014 07:00am ET

 

Artist's concept of the 4M mini-spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch on a trip around the moon on Oct. 23, 2014 aboard a Chinese Long March rocket. Credit: OHB/LuxSpace View full size image

The first privately funded mission to the moon is scheduled to blast off Thursday (Oct. 23), hitching a ride on a Chinese Long March rocket.

The 4M mission, a project developed by Luxembourg-based company LuxSpace, will piggyback on a Chinese moon flyby unofficially dubbed Chang'e 5-T1, which aims to test out technology for a future lunar sample-return mission. Liftoff is set for 1:59 p.m. EDT (1759 GMT) Thursday from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

If all goes according to plan, the Chang'e 5-T1 spacecraft will zoom around the moon and back toward Earth, ultimately sending a test capsule barreling into our planet's atmosphere on Oct. 31. The main purpose is to try out tech that could get moon dirt and rocks to Earth — the goal of China's Chang'e 5 mission, currently slated to blast off in 2017. [Greatest Moon Missions of All Time]

The 31-pound (14 kilograms) 4M payload is attached to the Long March's upper stage, which will also perform a close lunar flyby and return to Earth's neighborhood. 4M will transmit signals continuously during its space journey, and LuxSpace hopes amateur radio operators around the world will listen in. Indeed, the company will offer prizes to people who participate.

"One of our objectives is to increase [the] public's interest in space exploration and space," LuxSpace system engineer Hubert Moser told Space.com via email. "We also want to promote our way to do space missions in general — the microsatellite approach."

The 4M payload, which will hitchhike on the last stage of a Chinese rocket set to blast off on Oct. 23, 2014. 4M will complete a flyby around the moon and head back to Earth orbit, sending out signals to be received by amateur radio operators all the while.
Credit: OHB/LuxSpace

View full size image

The data collected by radio amateurs could also help demonstrate and develop a crowd-based approach to spacecraft tracking and navigation, Moser said. Further, 4M is equipped with a tiny dosimeter, provided by Spanish company iC-Málaga, which will record radiation levels during the mini-probe's mission.

All of this will be done on the cheap.

"The costs for the entire mission are in the six figures," Moser said.

4M is an homage to Manfred Fuchs, the founder of LuxSpace's parent company OHB, who died in April at the age of 75. (4M stands for "Manfred Memorial Moon Mission.")

While the Chang'e 5-T1 capsule will land back on Earth, 4M and the Long March upper stage will likely end up in a long, looping orbit around our planet, LuxSpace representatives said. 4M's nominal mission life is about 8 days, but the payload may keep operating for longer than that.

"The secondary power supply of 4M comprises solar cells and would extend the mission life to keep 4M operational in an orbital region where few spacecraft have been before," Moser said. "Nevertheless, this secondary power supply (therefore, life of 4M) depends strongly on the attitude of the last stage of the launcher, i.e. the availability of sunlight."

To learn more about the 4M mission, and how you can participate, go to http://moon.luxspace.lu.

 

 

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