You try, you fail, you learn. It's fantastic more countries are venturing into space exploration. Their next effort will build upon what they've learned.
Do countries typically share what they learn about these failures?
China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
11–20 of 78 posts
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#12Well that sucks. Is anyone here a big follower of the Chinese space programme? I follow "western" space efforts pretty closely, but with heavy military involvement, a preoccupation with face-saving, and the language barrier, I find the Chinese programme nigh on impossible to track. Do they have the same sort of spending split that NASA has with respect to the manned v. unmanned programmes? Or does their unmanned prog…
We, Chinese, do not know too much details either. It is hard for us to know details about the spending.
I tried to google it with key words like "Chang'e budget", but found nothing useful. However, I did found an article about the history[0]. Here is some fact: Back to 90s, there were Chinese scientists suggesting for lunar exploration. But the projects requires a budget around 1.5B, which was declined by the prime minister LI Peng (Family name first.)
0. http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E6%8E%A2%E6%9C%...
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#13This is a shame, but most people -- even in space programs -- don't appreciate how cold the Moon's shaded areas become. It's now estimated that these areas get to 26 Kelvins -- that's 26 degrees above absolute zero. To get a sense of how cold this is, Pluto's average surface temperature is seven degrees warmer . Also consider that, because of the specifics of the Moon's orbit, a given area stays shaded for just over…
> Pluto's average surface temperature is seven degrees warmer. What about the temperature in Pluto's shaded regions (if there are any)?
Maybe Pluto's atmosphere keeps the temperature warmer? I assume it's too far from the sun to have any unshaded versus shaded regions.
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Pluto's average surface temperature is seven degrees warmer. What about the temperature in Pluto's shaded regions (if there are any)?
Maybe Pluto's atmosphere keeps the temperature warmer? I assume it's too far from the sun to have any unshaded versus shaded regions.
The average "temperature" of empty space is 3K, due to heating by background radiation. That's a big enough difference to have a warmer sun-facing side and a cold, shaded side.
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#15You try, you fail, you learn. It's fantastic more countries are venturing into space exploration. Their next effort will build upon what they've learned. Do countries typically share what they learn about these failures?
I know NASA has been publishing reports on all of their missions for a number of years. Here's a small collection: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-mrs.html
I believe that after Challenger, NASA has even published technical reports regarding all aspects of the cause of failure and the steps to prevent it.
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#16My biggest shock was "Why haven't I heard about this lunar rover before!?"
I'm not news hound, but I do spend too much time on tech sites (HN/Reddit) that would report this. I remember years ago mention of China (and India) moon missions. But, really first man mad object to land in 37 years should have been blasted over most news sources.
After shock... "Kick ass, we're (finally) getting back on the moon!"
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#17The team is still working on it. There is hope still.
http://gbtimes.com/opinion/jade-rabbit-still-fighting-despit...
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#18My biggest shock was "Why haven't I heard about this lunar rover before!?" I'm not news hound, but I do spend too much time on tech sites (HN/Reddit) that would report this. I remember years ago mention of China (and India) moon missions. But, really first man mad object to land in 37 years should have been blasted over most news sources. After shock... "Kick ass, we're (finally) getting back on the moon!"
It was definitely on the front page of all techie sites, including HN and Reddit.
Many comments thereof lamented the lack of coverage by the mainstream media.
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#19[deleted]
Re: China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover dies on moon
#20Well that sucks. Is anyone here a big follower of the Chinese space programme? I follow "western" space efforts pretty closely, but with heavy military involvement, a preoccupation with face-saving, and the language barrier, I find the Chinese programme nigh on impossible to track. Do they have the same sort of spending split that NASA has with respect to the manned v. unmanned programmes? Or does their unmanned prog…
We, Chinese, do not know too much details either. It is hard for us to know details about the spending. I tried to google it with key words like "Chang'e budget", but found nothing useful. However, I did found an article about the history[0]. Here is some fact: Back to 90s, there were Chinese scientists suggesting for lunar exploration. But the projects requires a budget around 1.5B, which was declined by the prime m…
I wish the Chinese space program the best. Every success pushes mankind (all nationalities) forward in our understanding of the universe.