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Ephemeris: 06/18/2024 – Are we in a space race with China?

June 18, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 3:41 tomorrow morning.

Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s The United States and Russia were in a space race, attempting to outdo each other in space. The Russians had the lead to begin with. Their rockets were bigger because they were unable to miniaturize their atomic weapons. So they needed rockets large enough to launch them, and had rockets large enough, off the shelf so to speak, to be able to launch satellites and even humans into orbit. Sixty years later the old Soviet Union has disappeared and Russia is still using rocket technology that was developed in the 1960s. The Chinese however, were nowhere in the 1960s, and have now ascended to be our number one competitor in space. Considering their latest progress, China may beat us back to the Moon.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Chinese Chang'e 6 the sample collection spacecraft
The Chinese Chang’e 6 the sample collection spacecraft with the sample collection arm, taken by a minirover that was ejected out of the spacecraft is it landed in the Apollo crater on the far side of the Moon . © CNSA (China National Space Administration).
Categories: China, Ephemeris Program, Space Race, The Moon Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 06/17/2024 – China’s mission to get samples from the far side of the Moon

June 17, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, June 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:16 tomorrow morning.

Earlier this month the People’s Republic of China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft landed on the far side of the Moon to collect samples to return them to the Earth. They had put a satellite in orbit of the moon to act as a relay satellite so they can communicate with their Lander. The collection went according to plan and the spacecraft is now headed back to the Earth. It is my understanding that they landed in the crater called Apollo at the edge of the Aitken basin . Being the far side of the moon the Apollo crater is not named for the Greek god but for the American human Moon program of the 1960s and early 70s. The samples are expected to return to Earth on the 25th. These are the first samples from the far side of the Moon to be returned.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The far side of the Moon as shown in the Virtual Moon Atlas with my annotations. The Chang’e 6 sample return mission landed in the Apollo crater near the edge of the Aiken Basin, the largest, deepest and oldest impact structure on the Moon. The Chang’e 4 and Yutu 2, lander and rover, landed elsewhere in the Aitken Basin.

Categories: Chinese, Ephemeris Program, Space exploration, The Moon Tags: , ,