The Shuttle mission STS-120 launched to the ISS on October 23, 2007 and
on October 24, China launches a mission to the Moon.
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/index.html
I watched the shuttle launch on NASA TV. Nice!
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/
More links to China's Moon launch below.
http://in.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=INIndia-301309200
71024&start=1
If all goes well we will have both the Japan and China orbiting the Moon.
Now who will get to see the maps of the Lunar Resources?
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http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMPM53Z28F_index_0.html
Snip
During ESA's SMART-1 mission, the Agency provided the Chinese with
details of the spacecraft's position and transmission frequencies, so
that the Chinese could test their tracking stations and ground
operations by following it. This was part of their preparation for
Chang'e-1. Now it is time for Chang'e-1 itself to fly.
Hermann Opgenoorth, Head of ESA�s Solar System Missions Division says,
"Participation in Chang'e-1 gives European scientists and ESA experts a
welcome opportunity to maintain and pass on their expertise and to
continue their scientific work. Based on the experience gained with this
first mission, we intended to cooperate on the next missions in China's
Chang'e line of lunar explorers."
Snip
--------------------------------------------------------
It helps to have tracking around the world to view the Moon as Earth
turns. Not everyone has NASA's Deep Space Network to use. In the early
Apollo missions there were ships positioned in strategic locations to
aide in tracking. Now China launches and some are concerned that they
are using ships to talk to the spacecraft. Makes for headlines, if
headlines are what you want to read.
- LRK -
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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SETSN80&show_article=1
China to test space weapon in launching moon satellite: rights group+
Oct 23 07:41 AM US/Eastern
HONG KONG, Oct. 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)A Chinese submarine will send test
signals that could change the course of a satellite when China launches
its first moon orbiter, as part of the country's effort to develop space
war technology, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday.
The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said two survey
ships are deployed in the South Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean
to send signals to maneuver the lunar exploration satellite, expected to
be launched Wednesday. At the same time, a nuclear-powered submarine
will send simulated signals to the satellite as a test, it said in a
statement.
Once the satellite-maneuvering technology matures, the group said, China
would have the know-how to destroy other satellites in space in wartime.
China could launch cheaply-made weapon-carrying objects into space and
change their courses to destroy or damage satellites of other countries
by sending signals from submarines, the center said.
China shocked the world in January by firing a missile at an old weather
satellite without notifying anyone in advance, showing off its
anti-satellite weaponry and its ability to shoot down satellites without
being immediately noticed.
Snip
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Nice to know that ESA is working with China.
- LRK -
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http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5262
China enters the new moon race with Chang'e-1 launch
By Rui C. Barbosa, 10/24/2007 5:08:55 AM
At the beginning of a 35 minute launch window that opened at 10:05 UTC,
a CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A (CZ3A-15) was launched from the Xichang Satellite
Launch Centre, located in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, carrying
the first Chinese lunar probe, Chang'e-1 (ChangEr-1).
This was the 104th successful orbital Chinese launch, the 45th
successful orbital launch from Xichang, the ninth orbital Chinese launch
in 2007 and the sixth launch from Xichang in the current year. Free
launch video available (read more).
--------------------------------------------------------
Well now are you all looking up?
Who would like to look up with you?
Just point to the sky, and see who looks up.
Say hi, smile, and enjoy the moment.
Thanks for looking up with me as well.
- LRK -
Larry Kellogg
Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMPM53Z28F_index_0.html
Chang'e-1 - new mission to Moon lifts off - ESA to assist in tracking
information
24 October 2007
A bold new mission to the Moon was launched today by the Chinese
National Space Administration (CNSA). Chang'e-1 blasted off from the
Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan, atop a Long March 3A rocket.
Chang'e-1 represents the first step in the Chinese ambition to land
robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020.
Chang'e-1 has four mission goals to accomplish. The first is to make
three-dimensional images of many lunar landforms and outline maps of
major lunar geological structures. This mapping will include the first
detailed images taken of some regions near the lunar poles.
Chang'e-1 is also designed to analyze the abundance of up to 14 chemical
elements and their distribution across the lunar surface. Thirdly it
will measure the depth of the lunar soil and lastly it will explore the
space weather between the Earth and the Moon.
The spacecraft is large, weighing in at 2350 kg and it will operate from
a low, circular lunar orbit, just 200 km above the surface of the Moon.
From here, it will perform its science mission for a full year.
ESA is collaborating with the Chinese on this mission by providing
spacecraft and ground operations support services to CNSA. The two
agencies will also share data and encourage a visitors' programme so
that researchers can learn from each other.
During ESA's SMART-1 mission, the Agency provided the Chinese with
details of the spacecraft's position and transmission frequencies, so
that the Chinese could test their tracking stations and ground
operations by following it. This was part of their preparation for
Chang�e-1. Now it is time for Chang'e-1 itself to fly.
Hermann Opgenoorth, Head of ESA's Solar System Missions Division says,
"Participation in Chang'e-1 gives European scientists and ESA experts a
welcome opportunity to maintain and pass on their expertise and to
continue their scientific work. Based on the experience gained with this
first mission, we intended to cooperate on the next missions in China's
Chang'e line of lunar explorers."
Snip
==============================================================
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/071024_change_launch.html
*China Launches First Moon Probe
By Staff reports and wire service
posted: 24 October 2007
08:02 am ET
According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, China successfully launched its
first lunar probe on Wednesday.
The Chang'e I blasted off at about 6:05 pm on a Long March 3A carrier
rocket from the No. 3 launching tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch
Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The mission is named after a Chinese goddess who, in a popular fairy
tale, lives on the Moon.
Chang'e 1 is based on China's Dongfanghong 3 telecommunication satellite
platform and reportedly carries a 280-pound (127-kilogram) payload of
science instruments for its planned one-year mission.
The spacecraft carries a total of eight primary instruments to
photograph and map the lunar surface, probe its depth, study the
regolith's chemical composition, and analyze the space environment
around the Moon.
**
*Snip
==============================================================
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21449023/
China successfully launches first lunar probe
First step in Beijing�s plan to send a rover to moon and back
Updated: 3:24 a.m. PT Oct 24, 2007
BEIJING - China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday, the first step
in an ambitious 10-year plan to send a rover to the moon and return it
to earth.
State television showed pictures of the Chang'e 1 orbiter taking off
with a trail of smoke from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in
Sichuan province in southwestern China.
The launch comes just weeks after China's regional rival Japan put a
probe into orbit around the moon in a big leap forward for Asia's
undeclared space race. India is likely to join the regional rivalry
soon, with plans to send its own lunar probe into space in April.
The Long March 3A rocket carrying the probe blasted off shortly after 6
p.m. (1000 GMT) after officials from the China National Space
Administration said weather conditions were good for a liftoff.
Several thousand people living within 1.5 miles of the launch center and
under the rocket's trajectory were evacuated two hours before the
launch, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
More than 2,000 tourists were also on hand to watch the rocket soar into
space after paying 800 yuan (around $106).
Snip
==============================================================
http://in.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idINIndia-30130920071024
China launches moon orbiter with patriotic blast
Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:52pm IST
By Royston Chan
XICHANG, China (Reuters) - China launched its first moon orbiter on
Wednesday amid a blaze of live-to-air patriotic propaganda celebrating
the country's space ambitions and technological prowess.
The Chang'e One orbiter lifted off from the southwestern province of
Sichuan at 1005 GMT. Barring technical failure, it will reach its lunar
orbit on November 5 and spend more than a year scanning the lunar
surface in preparation for an unmanned moon vehicle planned for 2012 and
a manned landing in future decades.
Chinese television broadcast the event more or less live, and senior
leaders were present to witness the country's latest feat in space.
A Beijing control centre called the launch a "complete success", the
Xinhua news agency reported.
A torrent of state media reports has celebrated Chang'e One, named after
a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, as visible proof of the
country's growing strength.
"Without a doubt, the launch of the Chang'e One will again show the
world that Chinese people have the willpower, confidence and ability to
constantly scale the heights of science and technology," said a
commentator on the Sina Web site (news.sina.com.cn).
The patriotic upswell was echoed by thousands of space enthusiasts,
tourists and reporters from across the country who crowded slopes and
viewing platforms near the small city to watch the launch, cheering as
the rocket disappeared into the clouds leaving a ribbon of smoke.
Snip
==============================================================
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/environment/blastoff+for+chinas+mo
on+orbiter/955847
Blast-off for China's moon orbiter
Last Modified: 24 Oct 2007
By: Channel 4 News
China launches its first moon orbiter amid a blaze of live-to-air
patriotic propaganda celebrating the country's technological prowess.
The Chang'e One orbiter lifted off from the southwestern province of
Sichuan at 10.05 GMT. Barring technical failure, it will reach its lunar
orbit on 5 November and spend more than a year scanning the lunar
surface in preparation for an unmanned moon vehicle planned for 2012 and
a manned landing in future decades.
Chinese television broadcast the event more or less live, and senior
leaders were present to witness the country's latest feat in space.
A Beijing control centre called the launch a "complete success", the
Xinhua news agency reported.
Snip
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK
==============================================================
