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Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

theguardian.com

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Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#121

Post by pc86 »

darkwater wrote: post #68
pc86 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but can we bring realism into it? The explorers may be exploring for the sake of it, but the people paying for it definitely aren't. Many - perhaps even most - of the people at NASA would have probably done the job for free if they were able, but the people allocating NASA's budget in the 50s and 60s were doing so for geopolitical reasons first and foremost.

So if it's "us" it's good, and if it's "them", it's bad?

Feel free to quote from my comment where I said anything that could be construed that way.

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#122

Post by gus_massa »

mcculley wrote: post #60
gus_massa wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solids don't conduct too much heat. I think most of the cooling in a nuclear plant is generated by evaporation of water.

The nuclear plant nearest to me uses sea water, which is put back into the ocean.

Interesting. I had to look for more details. I found this link https://nuclear.duke-energy.com/2013/11/13/why-don-t-all-nuc...

Oversimplifiying: All new plnats have cooling towers, so the water they return to the environment is not too hot.

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#123

Post by lucubratory »

hoseja wrote: post #118
lucubratory wrote: post #103

Super impressive. A return mission from the far side is very technically difficult, and pulling it off paves the way for a staffed lunar lander on the far side.

How is it more difficult than return from the near side, besides the need for a relay?

Having to route all of your communications through a relay, having to explicitly build out backups to your backups for comms rather than being able to look up with your instruments, a longer delay requiring more autonomy on the lunar surface, more radiation, more micrometeorite impacts, rougher terrain, other things.

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#124

Post by photochemsyn »

porphyra wrote: post #25
photochemsyn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar PV linked to battery storage is the obvious energy source for a moonbase. All reactors require coolant circulation and water is going to be among the most valuable commodities on the moon, not something you want to circulate through a reactor (where you inevitably get tritium formation, making the water unsuitable for other uses). Maybe you could use helium or liquid sodium metal as the primary coolant, but the…

You'll need an insane amount of battery storage, since the moon only rotates once per month and you'll need to power through a long period of no sunlight.

A belt of solar panels encircling the moon would solve that problem though perhaps a bit ambitious at present.

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#125

Post by dotnet00 »

standardUser wrote: post #85
dotnet00 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China as far I'm aware doesn't have any solid plans on the books yet. NASA has been working on planning out a Mars sample return for a few years now, part of the Perseverance rover's job is to collect samples, store them in canisters, and drop them for future retrieval. This ensures that the samples have a much lower risk of having been contaminated, if, say, they end up being retrieved by a crewed mission. The issue…

Excellent info, thank you. If you or anyone else have favorite news sources for keeping up on space programs, please share. I tend to get most of my space news from HN.

I usually just pick it up from X, following a couple of good, space focused journalists helps push most space news up to me.

Adding to the Mars Sample Return thing, apparently China just recently announced their intention to do it ~2030.

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#126

Post by [deleted] »

Dalewyn wrote: post #101
darkwater wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if it's "us" it's good, and if it's "them", it's bad?

At the end of the day? Yes. No, the world ain't fair. Whoever makes a permanent presence on the Moon first gets to decide what everyone else can do there.

[deleted]

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#127

Post by rplnt »

ianburrell wrote: post #76
rplnt wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would likely be a thermal reactor, I guess? So no waste heat, since the little heat it gives is used to generate electricity.

Most nuclear reactors are thermal power plants and they all need to dump waste heat. Thermal power plants convert heat into electricity with turbines and are limited by dumping the waste heat. Are you thinking of radioisotope generators? Those aren't reactors. They use thermocouples and need to get rid of the waste heat. The Voyager RTGs have radiator fins.

Yeah, that's what I meant, sorry about the incorrect naming.

Re: Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission returns with samples from moon's far side

#128

Post by steve76 »

jiehong wrote: post #65

They only linked to other articles of the guardians but not to the official announcement. Official announcement by the CNSA: https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10565180/content.... Congratulations for such an achievement!

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