China Exclusive: Control circuit malfunction troubles China's Yutu
01 March 2014
China's Yutu (Jade Rabbit) Moon rover suffered a control circuit malfunction in its driving unit, which troubled its dormancy in extremely low temperature, a scientist said on Saturday. The control circuit problem prevented Yutu from entering the second dormancy as planned, Ye Peijian, chief scientist of the Chang'e-3 program, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. "Normal dormancy needs Yutu to fold its mast and solar panels," said Ye. "The driving unit malfunction prevented Yutu to do those actions."
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Uneasy rest begins for China's troubled Yutu
23 February 2014
China's lunar rover Yutu entered its third planned dormancy on Saturday, with the mechanical control issues that might cripple the vehicle still unresolved. According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), Yutu only carried out fixed point observations during its third lunar day, equivalent to about two weeks on Earth. Yutu's radar, panorama camera and infrared imaging equipment are functioning normally, the control issues that have troubled the rover since January persist.
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India is going to launch three satellites for China
12 February 2014
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) workhorse launch vehicle Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has been chosen to launch three DMC-3 Earth observation satellites for China. The DMC-3 will be built by UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSLT) and its imaging capacity will be leased to Beijing-based Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Company Limited (21AT) for a period of seven years. As per an agreement singed between UK and China in 2011, 21AT will lease 100% of the imaging capacity of the three satellites. According to SSLT, the satellites provides unparalleled one metre high resolution imagery with high speed downlink and 45 degree off-pointing.
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Chang'e-2 lunar probe travels 70 million km
14 February 2014
China's second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, has traveled more than 70 million km into deep space in good condition, so far the longest voyage of a Chinese spacecraft, a senior engineer said Friday. Chang'e-2 is expected to travel as far as 300 million km from the earth, after which it will return to perigee of about 7 million km from the earth around 2029, said Zhou Jianliang, chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
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