6 ms·

Chinese Spacecraft Nears Landing on Far Side of Moon

120 points by JBiserkov 8y ago

jpatokal 8y ago
> Last April, a Chinese space station, the Tiangong-1, fell to earth after officials lost communication with it. As discussed previously on HN, this was not an accident, but a planned deorbiting of an obsolete testbed. The loss of comms was not intended, but it happened three years after the last mission there and two years after the designed lifespan of the station. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15479891 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15479891 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1
stevemadere 8y ago
Roger Waters is already there waiting to meet it.
- 0xFFFE 8y ago
  It's Syd Barret who got there first though.
- masonic 8y ago
  No, he said "there IS NO dark side of the Moon, really; matter of fact, it's all dark."
hulahoof 8y ago
A short article but apparently it has landed successfully https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-spacecraft-makes-first-landing-on-moons-far-side/2019/01/02/e2152ebe-0f0d-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-sp... Edit: OP article has also updated to reflect the successful landing
Zhenya 8y ago
Woh cool it buddy: "Zhu Menghua, a professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology who has worked closely with China’s space administration. “We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try.” "
- myrandomcomment 8y ago
  The child in me really want to say to Mr. Menghua something like, “how many probes have you landed on other worlds, how many of your probes have left the solar system, where is your flyby and picture of the Kuiper belt objects, and let me know when you put a man on the moon, etc, etc, etc.” However as an adult who has the best thoughts for us as a species and not just a set of competing tribes I will say “congratulations, your success helps advance all of us.”
  - 0xFFFE 8y ago
    I think you meant Kuiper belt.
    - myrandomcomment 8y ago
      Corrected. Thank you.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - cscurmudgeon 8y ago
    The child in me also wants to add "Or go to Mars successfully (which India has done too)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars But just like you the adult in me wins for me too :)
  - flukus 8y ago
    > The child in me really want to say to Mr. Menghua something like Go with your instincts, international pissing contests are the best way to get resources devoted to space exploration.
  - rjf72 8y ago
    I'll give you a choice. You can either give yourself a million dollars or give everybody in this world five dollars. We'll also say that the $5 will not cause inflation, so it is $5 'real' dollars. Your answer to this question exemplifies why competition is what drives society forward. Given a choice between something that benefits you or something that would, in gross effect, benefit the world on the order of 38,000x as much - we pick the one that benefits us. Utilitarian thought sounds great until you're the one that actually has to make that decision. At that point cognitive dissonance, probably in the form of a marginal utility argument, will kick in faster than you can blink. What I'm getting at here is that I think your instincts would be the way to go. China's goals here are not to advance society, but to advance China. And about the time they start achieving things that parallel, let alone overcome, US achievements in space - expect to see the US budget for space development/exploration/colonization end up getting bumped up by a magnitude or two simply because if we don't then we risk falling behind them.
mabbo 8y ago
> “We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try.” That's a bit of a stretch. Landing on the moon is incredible and a huge congrats to everyone involved, but nobody "dared not try" to land on one side over the other. There just wasn't any particular need to do it. NASA was busy "daring" to land on Mars. The ESA "dared" to land on Titan. And Russia, well, they're keeping the ISS alive right now so I won't criticize their achievements.
- colordrops 8y ago
  The Russians landed on Venus. And got photographs back. There isn't a much harder landing than that.
  - nowarninglabel 8y ago
    That is so cool, can't believe had never heard of it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera
    - NaOH 8y ago
      The 8-part BBC series The Planets includes a good segment on the Venera project, specifically the episode Terra Firma. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283775 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283775 Edit: Jump to the 16:50 mark here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsyzwn https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsyzwn
    - JBiserkov 8y ago
      Replace "Chinese" with "Russian" in the following comment from this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18813112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18813112
  - TheBolivianNavy 8y ago
    They returned amazing photos but had some crazy issues. The lens cap didn't pop off on at least one of the cameras for Venera 9-12 (yep, all four). The Venera 14 lens cap popped off but landed under the surface tester arm meaning they could test the lens cap just fine but Venus, not so much. Imagine sending a probe to another planet, land successfully, and survive the hostile environment (for a little while anyway), only to have the issues with the lens cap. Again, and again, and again, and again.
pducks32 8y ago
I mean congrats to the team, but I’m really not sure there’s much scientific use in this mission. Don’t get me wrong, there is tremendous engineering and propagandist value that could lead to other high-value missions like mars etc but the reason no one is going to moon right now is that it’s kinda boring from a space point of view. India and the US went to Mars which is enormously more difficult and were able to do science experiments there—incredible. While the ESA mindblowingly landed on Titan which is insane. Congrats to the team but chill out with the hyperbole.
- colordrops 8y ago
  The hyperbole is perhaps a bit much, but ridiculous statements that there isn't scientific value don't help either. There are ride-along scientific payloads from Holland, Germany, and Sweden, and they landed in the oldest crater on the moon which may reveal secrets about its origins.
- usaphp 8y ago
  > I’m really not sure there’s much scientific use in this mission LOL what???
- A2017U1 8y ago
  I believe the eventual plan is a radio telescope on the far side of the Moon, it would have huge scientific merit. One of the mission goals here is to test for radio "silence" in the region.
- wenc 8y ago
  From TFA: "Though the moon is hardly untrodden ground after decades of exploration, a new landing is far more than just a propaganda coup, experts say. The crater where the Chinese landed is the oldest and deepest on the moon, so the probe’s discoveries may offer insights into the moon’s origins and evolution. And some scientists suspect that the surrounding basin may be rich in minerals. If exploiting the moon’s resources is the next step in space development, a successful mission could leave the Chinese better positioned."
colordrops 8y ago
Really odd how American media coverage of this event is so thin and most comments in social media are negative. I suppose the Chinese didn't help by keeping it really quiet themselves until it landed.
- fiblye 8y ago
  American media has this weird thing where they need to trivialize every single Chinese accomplishment. Every report of economic growth is followed by some "economic 'expert'" talking about how the Chinese economy is on the verge of collapse (and has been for about 70 years now), tech and medical breakthroughs are followed by rumors of corporate espionage and stealing technology, and everything is swept aside as a "big whoop". A lot of it reeks of jealousy. I can very much understand not liking China's government, but a lot of great things are being done by Chinese people.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - mips_avatar 8y ago
    I think it’s partially that US diplomats get constantly told by Chinese officials about how unstable China is. Everyone in the PLA is obsessed with ancient Chinese stories about ancient Hegemons and they took the lesson that the worst thing a rising power can do is “ask the size of the emperors cauldron” and risk freaking out the hegemon prematurely. I think you’re right that China’s progress is being under counted. But I think that’s exactly what the communist party desires (though only in foreign media, domestic media is a completely different story)
    - nikbackm 8y ago
      Surely that would not really fool those in charge of the USA, or? I mean, a random Hacker News poster seems to have figured it out easily enough!
      - mips_avatar 8y ago

120 points by JBiserkov 8y ago

> Last April, a Chinese space station, the Tiangong-1, fell to earth after officials lost communication with it. As discussed previously on HN, this was not an accident, but a planned deorbiting of an obsolete testbed. The loss of comms was not intended, but it happened three years after the last mission there and two years after the designed lifespan of the station. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15479891 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15479891 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1

stevemadere 8y ago

Roger Waters is already there waiting to meet it.

0xFFFE 8y ago
It's Syd Barret who got there first though.
masonic 8y ago
No, he said "there IS NO dark side of the Moon, really; matter of fact, it's all dark."

hulahoof 8y ago

A short article but apparently it has landed successfully https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-spacecraft-makes-first-landing-on-moons-far-side/2019/01/02/e2152ebe-0f0d-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-sp... Edit: OP article has also updated to reflect the successful landing

Zhenya 8y ago

Woh cool it buddy: "Zhu Menghua, a professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology who has worked closely with China’s space administration. “We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try.” "

myrandomcomment 8y ago
The child in me really want to say to Mr. Menghua something like, “how many probes have you landed on other worlds, how many of your probes have left the solar system, where is your flyby and picture of the Kuiper belt objects, and let me know when you put a man on the moon, etc, etc, etc.” However as an adult who has the best thoughts for us as a species and not just a set of competing tribes I will say “congratulations, your success helps advance all of us.”
- 0xFFFE 8y ago
  I think you meant Kuiper belt.
  - myrandomcomment 8y ago
    Corrected. Thank you.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- cscurmudgeon 8y ago
  The child in me also wants to add "Or go to Mars successfully (which India has done too)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars But just like you the adult in me wins for me too :)
- flukus 8y ago
  > The child in me really want to say to Mr. Menghua something like Go with your instincts, international pissing contests are the best way to get resources devoted to space exploration.
- rjf72 8y ago
  I'll give you a choice. You can either give yourself a million dollars or give everybody in this world five dollars. We'll also say that the $5 will not cause inflation, so it is $5 'real' dollars. Your answer to this question exemplifies why competition is what drives society forward. Given a choice between something that benefits you or something that would, in gross effect, benefit the world on the order of 38,000x as much - we pick the one that benefits us. Utilitarian thought sounds great until you're the one that actually has to make that decision. At that point cognitive dissonance, probably in the form of a marginal utility argument, will kick in faster than you can blink. What I'm getting at here is that I think your instincts would be the way to go. China's goals here are not to advance society, but to advance China. And about the time they start achieving things that parallel, let alone overcome, US achievements in space - expect to see the US budget for space development/exploration/colonization end up getting bumped up by a magnitude or two simply because if we don't then we risk falling behind them.

mabbo 8y ago

> “We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try.” That's a bit of a stretch. Landing on the moon is incredible and a huge congrats to everyone involved, but nobody "dared not try" to land on one side over the other. There just wasn't any particular need to do it. NASA was busy "daring" to land on Mars. The ESA "dared" to land on Titan. And Russia, well, they're keeping the ISS alive right now so I won't criticize their achievements.

colordrops 8y ago
The Russians landed on Venus. And got photographs back. There isn't a much harder landing than that.
- nowarninglabel 8y ago
  That is so cool, can't believe had never heard of it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera
  - NaOH 8y ago
    The 8-part BBC series The Planets includes a good segment on the Venera project, specifically the episode Terra Firma. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283775 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283775 Edit: Jump to the 16:50 mark here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsyzwn https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsyzwn
  - JBiserkov 8y ago
    Replace "Chinese" with "Russian" in the following comment from this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18813112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18813112
- TheBolivianNavy 8y ago
  They returned amazing photos but had some crazy issues. The lens cap didn't pop off on at least one of the cameras for Venera 9-12 (yep, all four). The Venera 14 lens cap popped off but landed under the surface tester arm meaning they could test the lens cap just fine but Venus, not so much. Imagine sending a probe to another planet, land successfully, and survive the hostile environment (for a little while anyway), only to have the issues with the lens cap. Again, and again, and again, and again.

pducks32 8y ago

I mean congrats to the team, but I’m really not sure there’s much scientific use in this mission. Don’t get me wrong, there is tremendous engineering and propagandist value that could lead to other high-value missions like mars etc but the reason no one is going to moon right now is that it’s kinda boring from a space point of view. India and the US went to Mars which is enormously more difficult and were able to do science experiments there—incredible. While the ESA mindblowingly landed on Titan which is insane. Congrats to the team but chill out with the hyperbole.

colordrops 8y ago
The hyperbole is perhaps a bit much, but ridiculous statements that there isn't scientific value don't help either. There are ride-along scientific payloads from Holland, Germany, and Sweden, and they landed in the oldest crater on the moon which may reveal secrets about its origins.
usaphp 8y ago
> I’m really not sure there’s much scientific use in this mission LOL what???
A2017U1 8y ago
I believe the eventual plan is a radio telescope on the far side of the Moon, it would have huge scientific merit. One of the mission goals here is to test for radio "silence" in the region.
wenc 8y ago
From TFA: "Though the moon is hardly untrodden ground after decades of exploration, a new landing is far more than just a propaganda coup, experts say. The crater where the Chinese landed is the oldest and deepest on the moon, so the probe’s discoveries may offer insights into the moon’s origins and evolution. And some scientists suspect that the surrounding basin may be rich in minerals. If exploiting the moon’s resources is the next step in space development, a successful mission could leave the Chinese better positioned."

colordrops 8y ago

Really odd how American media coverage of this event is so thin and most comments in social media are negative. I suppose the Chinese didn't help by keeping it really quiet themselves until it landed.

fiblye 8y ago
American media has this weird thing where they need to trivialize every single Chinese accomplishment. Every report of economic growth is followed by some "economic 'expert'" talking about how the Chinese economy is on the verge of collapse (and has been for about 70 years now), tech and medical breakthroughs are followed by rumors of corporate espionage and stealing technology, and everything is swept aside as a "big whoop". A lot of it reeks of jealousy. I can very much understand not liking China's government, but a lot of great things are being done by Chinese people.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- mips_avatar 8y ago
  I think it’s partially that US diplomats get constantly told by Chinese officials about how unstable China is. Everyone in the PLA is obsessed with ancient Chinese stories about ancient Hegemons and they took the lesson that the worst thing a rising power can do is “ask the size of the emperors cauldron” and risk freaking out the hegemon prematurely. I think you’re right that China’s progress is being under counted. But I think that’s exactly what the communist party desires (though only in foreign media, domestic media is a completely different story)
  - nikbackm 8y ago
    Surely that would not really fool those in charge of the USA, or? I mean, a random Hacker News poster seems to have figured it out easily enough!
    - mips_avatar 8y ago