4 ms·

Anyone else a little surprised that we hadn't heard anything about this mission earlier? I didn't really know that China was even planning on landing probes on

by ufmace 13y ago

Anyone else a little surprised that we hadn't heard anything about this mission earlier? I didn't really know that China was even planning on landing probes on the Moon. Kind of a big contrast to SpaceX, say, who seems to publish a press release or at least a tweet about everything they have done and are planning to do. Not that I mind, it's cool to read about what they're working on. I suppose if the Chinese space program is publishing much about it's plans, it doesn't make it into English-language media most of the time.

maratd 13y ago
> I didn't really know that China was even planning on landing probes on the Moon. There were rumblings for many years now, with various semi-official announcements. Nobody took them seriously, so they didn't get much play.
yapcguy 13y ago
Don't forget Google who got lots of media attention: > The Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest international incentive based prize of all time, aims to do something we haven’t done as humanity since 1973, safely land on the surface of the Moon. http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/prize-details http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/prize-details
- tanzam75 13y ago
  > The Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest international incentive based prize of all time, aims to do something we haven’t done as humanity since 1973, safely land on the surface of the Moon. That sentence wasn't even correct yesterday, before Chang'e 3 landed. The last lunar soft-landing was Luna 24 in 1976 -- a Soviet sample-return mission. What they meant is that nobody had done what the Google Lunar XPRIZE requires since 1973. The Google prize requires a rover, and the last rover on the moon was Lunokhod 2, in 1973.
anigbrowl 13y ago
I heard about it. But it has received pretty muted coverage. I suspect a combination of jealousy, the Chinese language barrier, and Chinese indifference or inexperience at promoting its space activities. Given that China has had some embarrassing and destructive disasters in the space program, they seem a bit reluctant to go for the live broadcast approach.
- tanzam75 13y ago
  > Given that China has had some embarrassing and destructive disasters in the space program, they seem a bit reluctant to go for the live broadcast approach. The launch and landing of Chang'e 3 were both broadcast live on CCTV English. If American news networks decided not to cover it live, then you can hardly blame that on the Chinese.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    Oh, I had misunderstood them to be on a delay. I certainly don't blame the Chinese for the relative lack of coverage here in the US.
    - yapcguy 13y ago
      When the UK's Beagle failed, the public reaction was "Oh well, better luck next time.". If the Chinese mission failed, the reaction would probably be "Ha, you guys suck, you need to steal and copy some more". The Chinese don't want to be humiliated thus I'm surprised there were live feeds. This must show increasing confidence in the space program and their abilities to execute successfully.
lmm 13y ago
I was unsurprised considering how few people seem to know about the the Soviet Mars and Venus landers.
- redacted 13y ago
  Because up until recently the entire space program was run by plucky Americans (with eccentric Brits/acceptable Euros and the occasional crazy Australian if needed) - anything else is Commie propaganda.

by ufmace 13y ago

maratd 13y ago

> I didn't really know that China was even planning on landing probes on the Moon. There were rumblings for many years now, with various semi-official announcements. Nobody took them seriously, so they didn't get much play.

yapcguy 13y ago

Don't forget Google who got lots of media attention: > The Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest international incentive based prize of all time, aims to do something we haven’t done as humanity since 1973, safely land on the surface of the Moon. http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/prize-details http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/prize-details

tanzam75 13y ago
> The Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest international incentive based prize of all time, aims to do something we haven’t done as humanity since 1973, safely land on the surface of the Moon. That sentence wasn't even correct yesterday, before Chang'e 3 landed. The last lunar soft-landing was Luna 24 in 1976 -- a Soviet sample-return mission. What they meant is that nobody had done what the Google Lunar XPRIZE requires since 1973. The Google prize requires a rover, and the last rover on the moon was Lunokhod 2, in 1973.

anigbrowl 13y ago

I heard about it. But it has received pretty muted coverage. I suspect a combination of jealousy, the Chinese language barrier, and Chinese indifference or inexperience at promoting its space activities. Given that China has had some embarrassing and destructive disasters in the space program, they seem a bit reluctant to go for the live broadcast approach.

tanzam75 13y ago
> Given that China has had some embarrassing and destructive disasters in the space program, they seem a bit reluctant to go for the live broadcast approach. The launch and landing of Chang'e 3 were both broadcast live on CCTV English. If American news networks decided not to cover it live, then you can hardly blame that on the Chinese.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Oh, I had misunderstood them to be on a delay. I certainly don't blame the Chinese for the relative lack of coverage here in the US.
  - yapcguy 13y ago
    When the UK's Beagle failed, the public reaction was "Oh well, better luck next time.". If the Chinese mission failed, the reaction would probably be "Ha, you guys suck, you need to steal and copy some more". The Chinese don't want to be humiliated thus I'm surprised there were live feeds. This must show increasing confidence in the space program and their abilities to execute successfully.

lmm 13y ago

I was unsurprised considering how few people seem to know about the the Soviet Mars and Venus landers.

redacted 13y ago
Because up until recently the entire space program was run by plucky Americans (with eccentric Brits/acceptable Euros and the occasional crazy Australian if needed) - anything else is Commie propaganda.