Ask the Experts — Answers
October 25th, 2014
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has unveiled their new report: The Space Economy at a Glance 2014. The report provides a statistical overview of the global space sector and its contributions to economic activity. This new edition provides indicators and statistics based on both official and private data, in over forty countries […]
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February 13th, 2014
The word from Beijing is that China’s Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover is indeed awake, apparently surviving some two weeks of low temperature trauma. China’s Yutu lunar robot first touched the Moon’s surface on Dec. 15, 2013, unleashed several hours after China’s lunar probe Chang’e-3 soft-landed on the Moon on Dec. 14. Both spacecraft have been […]
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January 15th, 2014
It was seven years ago this month that China purposely destroyed its own Fengyun-1C meteorological-monitoring spacecraft via a Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. That January 11, 2007 event represents the worst single debris contamination of low Earth orbit. NASA’s just-issued Orbital Debris Quarterly News has spotlighted the event, noting that the ASAT test placed hundreds of […]
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December 30th, 2013
China’s Chang’e 3 lander and rover have been spotted by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (LRO) powerful camera. At the time of the landing LRO’s orbit was far from the landing site so images of the landing were not possible. However, ten days later on December 24, LRO approached the landing site, and the Lunar Reconnaissance […]
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December 16th, 2013
Previously taken NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) images of the area in which China’s Chang’e 3 landed on the Moon December 14 have been matched up with descent images acquired by the Chang’e 3 lander as it dove down onto the lunar surface. According to imaging experts, the Chinese lander is probably in, or very […]
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December 6th, 2013
China’s Chang’e 3 lunar probe has successfully entered lunar orbit. Braking into a circular orbit around the Moon, the spacecraft is set to attempt a soft landing on moonscape in mid-December. According to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) the craft is in a 100 km-high lunar circular orbit. Launched early on Monday morning from […]
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