Dark Side of the moon
Discussion
I see the Chinese are sending the first mission to the dark side of the moon. Shame there's not more information on it, live feeds etc. No surprise there though.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/02/ch...
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/02/ch...
The "Dark Side of the Moon" is an album by Pink Floyd.
The probe is landing on the FAR side of the moon - which will be nicely lit up by the sun and far from dark at the moment the probe/rover lands.
Fair play to China for having a go at this. It is probably the last "first" of significance in the unmanned exploration of the moon.
The probe is landing on the FAR side of the moon - which will be nicely lit up by the sun and far from dark at the moment the probe/rover lands.
Fair play to China for having a go at this. It is probably the last "first" of significance in the unmanned exploration of the moon.
Eric Mc said:
The "Dark Side of the Moon" is an album by Pink Floyd.
And a fine piece of work it is too.Eric Mc said:
The probe is landing on the FAR side of the moon - which will be nicely lit up by the sun and far from dark at the moment the probe/rover lands.
BRB - just off to self flagellate for such a schoolboy booboo.Eric Mc said:
Fair play to China for having a go at this. It is probably the last "first" of significance in the unmanned exploration of the moon.
Indeed, certainly watching with interest.Don't beat yourself up too much. The BBC Radio 4 presenter (Nick Robinson) on this morning's "Today" broadcast made the same mistake - and was firmly put in his place by the space scientist (Lucy Green) they had on to interview about this Chinese mission.
In order for this mission to work, the Chinese have had to put a relay satellite into orbit around the moon so that the lander can communicate with earth.
Back in 1970/71, Jack Schmitt, who is the only geologist to have walked on the moon, advocated quite strongly for a manned Apollo mission to the far side. Predictably, NASA told him to shut up and concentrate on his upcoming mission, Apollo 17.
In order for this mission to work, the Chinese have had to put a relay satellite into orbit around the moon so that the lander can communicate with earth.
Back in 1970/71, Jack Schmitt, who is the only geologist to have walked on the moon, advocated quite strongly for a manned Apollo mission to the far side. Predictably, NASA told him to shut up and concentrate on his upcoming mission, Apollo 17.
On a more serious note, we have to follow rule number 1 - don't believe anything the Chinese authorities tell you.
Their state controlled news outlets are proclaiming that it'll further our understanding of the solar system. Erm, no it won't, the moon has been done to death by the yanks. There is little to be gained.
Further to that, do the Chinese really give enough of a s
t about the history of our solar system to want to not only go to the moon - but the bottom of a huge crater on the far side of it, which meant having to go to the trouble of putting up a separate satellite to bounce the comms back.
No. The main reason for this 'out of view of everybody else' mission is to look for rare minerals to further their world domination of global electronics and the like.
Their state controlled news outlets are proclaiming that it'll further our understanding of the solar system. Erm, no it won't, the moon has been done to death by the yanks. There is little to be gained.
Further to that, do the Chinese really give enough of a s
t about the history of our solar system to want to not only go to the moon - but the bottom of a huge crater on the far side of it, which meant having to go to the trouble of putting up a separate satellite to bounce the comms back.No. The main reason for this 'out of view of everybody else' mission is to look for rare minerals to further their world domination of global electronics and the like.
For goodness sake guys, can we have a bit of positivity here.
The moon most certainly has not been done to death by anyone. There is a lot to learn about the moon and we will not understand it properly for many, many years.
This is a genuine and interesting space "first" for China and they should be congratulated on their success.
The moon most certainly has not been done to death by anyone. There is a lot to learn about the moon and we will not understand it properly for many, many years.
This is a genuine and interesting space "first" for China and they should be congratulated on their success.
A brief video of what they have done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciXXj0Tj7zk
Probably of more significance than successfully landing on the far side is the fact that they have landed further from the lunar equator than any other lander (manned or unmanned) and, even more importantly, have landed in the Southern Uplands known as the Aitken Basin, an area of the moon where there are strong indications from previous research that this is where the moon's greatest water reserves exist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciXXj0Tj7zk
Probably of more significance than successfully landing on the far side is the fact that they have landed further from the lunar equator than any other lander (manned or unmanned) and, even more importantly, have landed in the Southern Uplands known as the Aitken Basin, an area of the moon where there are strong indications from previous research that this is where the moon's greatest water reserves exist.
Dog Star said:
Eric Mc said:
The probe is landing on the FAR side of the moon
Oh please give up! You come out with this every time.It's just petty schoolboy-esque pedantry; a bit like the crowing bores that pip up whenever people say "road tax". It's common parlance.
Precisely. Getting it right in the science forum should be what it is about.
The moon goes through the complete day/night cycle just like the earth does. Both sides of the moon get full sunlight as part of that daily cycle. The main difference is that the lunar daily cycle is approximately 28 earth days long, so a lunar day is 14 earth days and a lunar night is 14 earth days.
As can be seen from the lander photos, there is bright sunlight at the moment on the so-called "dark side".
The only aspect of the far side that is "dark" is our level of knowledge about that area of the moon - in the same way that Victorians referred to the unknown parts of Africa as "Darkest Africa".
The moon goes through the complete day/night cycle just like the earth does. Both sides of the moon get full sunlight as part of that daily cycle. The main difference is that the lunar daily cycle is approximately 28 earth days long, so a lunar day is 14 earth days and a lunar night is 14 earth days.
As can be seen from the lander photos, there is bright sunlight at the moment on the so-called "dark side".
The only aspect of the far side that is "dark" is our level of knowledge about that area of the moon - in the same way that Victorians referred to the unknown parts of Africa as "Darkest Africa".
Eric Mc said:
Precisely. Getting it right in the science forum should be what it is about.
The moon goes through the complete day/night cycle just like the earth does. Both sides of the moon get full sunlight as part of that daily cycle. The main difference is that the lunar daily cycle is approximately 28 earth days long, so a lunar day is 14 earth days and a lunar night is 14 earth days.
As can be seen from the lander photos, there is bright sunlight at the moment on the so-called "dark side".
The only aspect of the far side that is "dark" is our level of knowledge about that area of the moon - in the same way that Victorians referred to the unknown parts of Africa as "Darkest Africa".
Really The moon goes through the complete day/night cycle just like the earth does. Both sides of the moon get full sunlight as part of that daily cycle. The main difference is that the lunar daily cycle is approximately 28 earth days long, so a lunar day is 14 earth days and a lunar night is 14 earth days.
As can be seen from the lander photos, there is bright sunlight at the moment on the so-called "dark side".
The only aspect of the far side that is "dark" is our level of knowledge about that area of the moon - in the same way that Victorians referred to the unknown parts of Africa as "Darkest Africa".
Glad you explained that to me. It's not a term I use unless I'm listening to Pink Floyd but I'm perfectly aware of what it means and I don't feel the need to go blathering on every time someone says it. My main hobby (outside of bikes and cars) is Apollo. I've shelves and shelves of books, DVDs and so on. Met Apollo astronauts. But I rarely venture or contribute on threads in here because of condescending, pedantic stuff like the above. Whether you like it or not, it's common parlance. Pistonheads: cliquey one-upmanship matters.
It reminds me of the plane people - got to get as many acronyms and buzzwords in just to show you're one of the crowd - "yeah, I was flying out of LAX, tuned left and had status as a diamond PAX but then the VP got VD and I got a flame out blah blah".
Anyway - to the subject in hand - I'm with the poster a few up there ^^^ I have no belief whatsoever that there's any true science motivation for this (having said that there wasn't initially with Apollo), it's a technology demonstration that they've "arrived" and heaven knows what they'll be up to where they cannot be seen.
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