I can't figure out here the exact point of the landing site, are precise coordinates known? 177.6E,45.5S is not precise enough.
The Chang'e-4 probe entered a "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night after the probe's landing fell. The temperature could drop as low as about minus 170 degrees centigrade."Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night," Xie said.The experiment has ended. The organisms will gradually decompose in the totally enclosed canister, and will not affect the lunar environment, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Quote from: mcgyver on 01/15/2019 12:01 pmI can't figure out here the exact point of the landing site, are precise coordinates known? 177.6E,45.5S is not precise enough.I followed the video in the response you quoted (https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47004.msg1900384#msg1900384) and I arrived at approximately 177.58859 E, 45.45647 S, closest to the top (in North-up view) crater in the triangle found at around 177.588, -45.457.
QuoteThe Chang'e-4 probe entered a "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night after the probe's landing fell. The temperature could drop as low as about minus 170 degrees centigrade."Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night," Xie said.The experiment has ended. The organisms will gradually decompose in the totally enclosed canister, and will not affect the lunar environment, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-01/15/c_137745505.htm
BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe is expected to do many things unprecedented in space history after it launches later this year, such as touching down softly on the far side of the Moon and taking the first flowers to blossom on the lifeless lunar surface.The probe will carry a tin containing seeds of potato and arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard, and probably some silkworm eggs to conduct the first biological experiment on the Moon.The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was designed by 28 Chinese universities, led by southwest China's Chongqing University, a conference on scientific and technological innovation of Chongqing Municipality has heard.The cylindrical tin, made from special aluminum alloy materials, is 18 cm tall, with a diameter of 16 cm, a net volume of 0.8 liters and a weight of 3 kilograms. The tin will also contain water, a nutrient solution, air and equipment such as a small camera and data transmission system.Researchers hope the seeds will grow to blossom on the Moon, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth.Although astronauts have cultivated plants on the International Space Station, and rice and arabidopsis were grown on China's Tiangong-2 space lab, those experiments were conducted in low-Earth orbit, at an altitude of about 400 kilometers. The environment on the Moon, 380,000 kilometers from the Earth, is more complicated.Liu Hanlong, chief director of the experiment and vice president of Chongqing University, said since the Moon has no atmosphere, its temperature ranges from lower than minus 100 degrees centigrade to higher than 100 degrees centigrade."We have to keep the temperature in the 'mini biosphere' within a range from 1 degree to 30 degrees, and properly control the humidity and nutrition. We will use a tube to direct the natural light on the surface of Moon into the tin to make the plants grow," said Xie Gengxin, chief designer of the experiment."We want to study the respiration of the seeds and the photosynthesis on the Moon," said Liu."Why potato and arabidopsis? Because the growth period of arabidopsis is short and convenient to observe. And potato could become a major source of food for future space travelers," said Liu. "Our experiment might help accumulate knowledge for building a lunar base and long-term residence on the Moon."The public, especially young people, are being encouraged to participate in the Chang'e-4 mission. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched a contest among students across China in 2016, collecting ideas on the design of the payloads.The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was selected from more than 200 submissions, according to the CNSA.
Liu Hanlong, head of the experiment at Chongqing University, said at a Chongqing government press conference on Tuesday that the temperature inside the 1-litre-capacity canister had reached -52 degrees Celsius and the experiment had ended.According to Liu, the experiment did not carry a battery and could not continue environmental control during the lunar nighttime. The lack of battery was possibly due to mass constraints for the mission and the lander's own power demands.....The canister was a popular science experiment, selected from proposals submitted to a contest that invited students to design a small payload for the lander, and thus of less importance than the main science goals of the mission.It was one of a number of outreach initiatives related to the Chang'e-4 mission, which also included a competition to choose a name for the mission rover.
Professor Xie Gengxin, of Chongqing University and chief designer of the experiment, said a canister installed on the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe contained the seeds of cotton, rapeseed, potato, and arabidopsis, as well as eggs of the fruit fly and some yeast, to form a simple mini biosphere.
These are the interactive maps:Map 1Map 2Map 3
"According to above sites, there are no narrow images (NAC) covering the area yet"Here is a good NAC image of the area:http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_lroc/LRO-L-LROC-2-EDR-V1.0/M134022629LEThere is another one with very low angle illumination. So there are images already.
I saw that tweet, but the 26th is too early - sun will not rise until the 28th and operations probably not until the 29th.
There have been no official updates from China regarding the mission for two weeks, but sunrise over the eastern edge of the crater began on January 28 according to Virtual Moon Atlas, suggesting that the Chang'e-4 craft will resume operations on or around the 29th, when the Sun will be higher in the sky to provide solar power to the spacecraft.
