China Will Land on the Moon
China is in the final stages of preparing its robotic to launch atop a Long March 3B rocket, slated for liftoff in early December. The ambitious mission is built to first orbit the moon, then propel down to a landing site, after which a small, solar-powered lunar rover will be unleashed. Already on duty orbiting the moon is NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). The probe’s science instrument commissioning is now underway, after which the spacecraft will drop down to the lower lunar science orbit and start the full science phase of the mission.
“The arrival of the Chang’e 3 spacecraft into lunar orbit and then its descent to the surface will result in a significant contamination of the lunar exosphere by the propellant,” said Jeff Plescia, who chairs NASA’s Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), chartered to assist the space agency in planning the scientific exploration of the moon.
While Chang’e 3′s mission will create some problems for LADEE — in that the US spacecraft would measure not only the native exosphere, but also the Chinese spacecraft’s propellant and how it becomes distributed into the lunar exosphere.
LADEE will also measure the dust lofted above the lunar surface by the Chang’e 3 touchdown. Thanks to space.com