China Landing On The Moon Made History

China made history on Dec. 14, 2013 with the successful landing of its Chang'e 3 lander carrying the Yutu rover. The mission is the first soft-landing on the moon since 1976 and made China only the third country ever perform the lunar feat. 

China has landed its first robotic lander on the moon, a historic lunar arrival that makes the country only the third nation to make a soft-landing on Earth's celestial neighbor.
The Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, rover was deployed on the moon's surface at 4:35am (2035 GMT), several hours after the Chang'e-3Chang'e-3 probe landed, according to official news agency Xinhua. It is the first soft-landing on the moon by any spacecraft in 37 years. 

The deployment makes China the third country to complete a lunar rover mission, after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Citing the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, Xinhua said the rover "has touched the lunar surface." The agency tweeted an image, apparently taken from the probe, showing the rover leaving tracks in the dust behind it as it rolled away. 

Earlier, scientists burst into applause as a computer-generated image representing the Chang'e-3 probe was seen landing on the moon's surface via screens at a Beijing control centre, state broadcaster Chinese Central Television (CCTV) showed. 

Chang'e 3 launched toward the moon on Dec. 2 Beijing time to begin its two-week trek to the lunar surface. The spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit about five days after launch, and then began preparing for landing.

Many Chinese took to the country's internet message boards expressing joy at the news, which Xinhua described as a "historic breakthrough" in an emotional editorial. 
"Space exploration is the cause of mankind, not just 'the patent' of a certain country," the commentary said. 
"China will share the achievements of its lunar exploration with the whole world and use them to benefit humanity." 
The editorial also cited President Xi Jinping's slogan for Chinese advancement, saying that the lunar bid "once again lights up the China Dream." 

The Chinese vehicle carries a more sophisticated payload than previous missions, including ground-penetrating radar which will gather measurements of the lunar soil and crust.

"It's still a significant technological challenge to land on another world," said Peter Bond, consultant editor." You have to use rocket motors for the descent and you have to make sure you go down at the right angle and the right rate of descent and you don't end up in a crater or on top of a large rock."

The landing module actively reduced its speed at about 15km from the Moon's surface.

When it reached a distance of 100m from the surface, the craft fired thrusters to slow its descent.

At a distance of 4m, the lander switched off the thrusters and fell to the lunar surface.

The Jade Rabbit was expected to be deployed several hours after touchdown, driving down a ramp lowered by the landing module.

Reports suggest the lander and rover will photograph each other at some point on Sunday.

According to Chinese space scientists, the mission is designed to test new technologies, gather scientific data and build intellectual expertise, as well as scouting for mineral resources that could eventually be mined."China's lunar program is an important component of mankind's activities to explore [the] peaceful use of space," said Sun Huixian, a space engineer with the Chinese lunar programme.The 120kg (260lb) Jade Rabbit rover can reportedly climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200m (660ft) per hour.

The rover and lander are powered by solar panels but some sources suggest they also carry radioisotope heating units (RHUs), containing plutonium-238 to keep them warm during the cold lunar night.

Its name - chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters - derives from an ancient Chinese myth about a rabbit living on the moon as the pet of the lunar goddess Chang'e.

Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Washington DC "a reflection of your economic power, because you need spare resources to have a space programme. It clearly has military implications because so much space technology is dual use".

He added: "It reflects your scientific and technological capabilities, it supports your diplomacy by making you appear strong.

"China is saying: 'We are doing something that only two other countries have done before - the US and the Soviet Union."

The landing site is a flat volcanic plain, part of a larger feature known as Mare Imbrium that forms the right eye of the "Man in the Moon".

The lander will operate there for a year, while the rover is expected to work for some three months.

After this, a mission to bring samples of lunar soil back to Earth is planned for 2017. And this may set the stage for further robotic missions, and - perhaps - a crewed lunar mission in the 2020s.