This weekend, the China National Space Administration (国家航天局, or CNSA) landed its Chang’e-3 lander on the Moon, deploying the Yutu rover on a 3-month mission to explore the dark lava plains of Bay of Rainbows, northeast of Mare Imbrium. It will also leave a powerful telescope behind, to watch the stars.
It’s exploring the Bay of Rainbows called by its Latin name Sinus Iridumin on most lunar maps.
Yutu will spend three months (about 3 lunar days) exploring a 3-km region, and it has the ability to see 100 meters underground with ground-penetrating radar. This will help scientists understand the structure of the lunar regolith and possibly find lava tunnels that might be good settlement areas. It also has a spectrometer to analyse the chemical composition of the regolith and rocks. Yutu will also be sending high-definition images, including panoramas, back to Earth.
Great! Maybe they’ll open the moons first Chinese restaurant!
Nice to see someone land on the moon after all this time
More hoaxes. The Chinese can get away with this nonsense as they control the US via their dollar holdings.