[meteorite-list] Mechanical Anomaly Raises Concern for Chinese Rover

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 12:09:48 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201401282009.s0SK9mcn025746_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/china/change3/140128anomaly/

Mechanical anomaly raises concern for Chinese rover
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
January 28, 2014

China's moon rover suffered a mechanical anomaly before going to sleep
Saturday at the onset of the two-week lunar night, according to state
media reports.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported the problem occurred due to
the "complicated lunar surface environment," citing the State Administration
of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, or SASTIND,
the Chinese agency responsible for the mission.

Official government-run media reports released no other details on the
nature of the glitch, but Xinhua published a story Sunday touting the
difficulties of space exploration and sharing goodwill messages it said
were collected from Chinese space enthusiasts.

The independent South China Morning Post newspaper in Hong Kong said Xinhua
appeared to be preparing the Chinese people for bad news.

"This is too heavy a burden," said Zhang Yian, a Beijing-based writer,
according to Xinhua. "If the rabbit can not stand again, maybe we should
let it have a rest."

China named the rover Yutu, which means "jade rabbit" in English.

The six-wheeled Yutu rover is designed to hibernate during the lunar night,
when the sun dips below the horizon for two weeks and temperatures plunge
to minus 180 degrees Celsius, or minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rover is fitted with solar panels to generate power for the vehicle's
science instrumentation, radio transmitters and other equipment. Before
the sun goes down at Yutu's landing site, the rover is programmed to fold
down its camera and antenna mast and retract its solar panels.

Yutu carries plutonium heaters to keep the rover's delicate electronics
warm at night.

The rover ran into trouble while executing procedures to configure itself
for the lunar night. Unofficial accounts posted to Chinese websites claimed
the rover was unable to stow one of its solar panels over the retracted
camera mast on top of the robot's instrument deck.

There was no confirmation Tuesday what the situation meant for the rover's
future. Chinese engineers may not know more about the rover's condition
until it is scheduled to wake up around Feb. 8 or 9.

The rover was designed to operate at least three months after touching
down Dec. 14 on the moon's Mare Imbrium region, a dark feature carved
out by a massive meteorite 3.9 billion years ago.

The lander touched down on a thick deposit of volcanic material that filled
the Mare Imbrium impact basin about 3 billion years ago.

Chinese officials say the rover has logged about 100 meters, or more than
300 feet, since landing. Yutu endured its first two-week nighttime hibernation
in late December and early January.

Yutu used a mechanical scoop to sample the lunar soil earlier this month,
according to state media, and it studied the moon's underground structure
with a ground-penetrating radar. The robot used X-ray and near-infrared
spectrometers to measure the composition of lunar rocks.

Engineers also established a radio communications link between the four-foot-tall
rover and its stationary landing platform. Chinese media have reported
no problems with the four-legged lander, which has its own suite of instruments
including an ultraviolet telescope to observe Earth's plasmasphere and
conduct the first long-term astronomical observations from the lunar surface.

Yutu is part of China's third lunar mission. Named Chang'e 3, the project
achieved the first soft landing on the moon since 1976 and followed two
Chinese lunar orbiters launched in 2007 and 2010.
Received on Tue 28 Jan 2014 03:09:48 PM PST