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#40
by
Phil Stooke
on 26 Mar, 2017 13:49
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APXS detects elements, but not how they are assembled in minerals. So if the translation is correct the instrument is probably an infrared spectrometer like the one used on Yutu.
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#41
by
Dalhousie
on 26 Mar, 2017 23:23
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APXS detects elements, but not how they are assembled in minerals. So if the translation is correct the instrument is probably an infrared spectrometer like the one used on Yutu.
It makes good sense to use Yutu heritage where possible.
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#42
by
K210
on 27 Mar, 2017 04:14
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Why is china is such a hurry to launch a orbiter/lander/rover all in one go? With their lunar program they went step by step. With mars they seem to be rushing for some reason....not a good idea given how many missions to mars have failed in the past
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#43
by
savuporo
on 27 Mar, 2017 05:05
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Why is china is such a hurry to launch a orbiter/lander/rover all in one go?..
Possibly because they have pushed indigenous spacecraft engineering and technology far enough, and learned everything there is to learn from others, to be confident in this ?
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#44
by
frensel
on 27 Mar, 2017 08:53
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Why is china is such a hurry to launch a orbiter/lander/rover all in one go? With their lunar program they went step by step. With mars they seem to be rushing for some reason....not a good idea given how many missions to mars have failed in the past
I think their goals are not scientific research, but engineering demonstration. The design of this Mars mission is somewhat similar to the previous lunar missions. It is clear that their ultimate goal is human exploration of Mars. They don't want to dedicate too much in "Spirit" or "Curiosity" like science-oriented missions. If the first mission succeed, the second missions to Mars is sample return.
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#45
by
Steven Pietrobon
on 27 Mar, 2017 09:22
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Preliminary payloads being carried. Rover life is planned for 90 days.
Orbiter
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High-Resolution Camera (0.1 m)
That would give us higher-resolution picture than HIRISE.
Just to be clear, that is my interpretation from what is said in the conclusion:
"100 m-resolution Mars images and local 10 cm-resolution images"
I think you'd need to have a pretty large mirror. If my calculations are correct, 0.1 m resolution at 200 km requires 0.103 arcsecond resolution. From
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/users/lin/ast110-6/applets/mirror_angular_resol.htma 1.23 m mirror has 0.102 arcsecond resolution. Perhaps what they meant by "local" are images taken by the Lander as is it descending to the surface.
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#46
by
Zed_Noir
on 27 Mar, 2017 10:20
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Why is china is such a hurry to launch a orbiter/lander/rover all in one go? With their lunar program they went step by step. With mars they seem to be rushing for some reason....not a good idea given how many missions to mars have failed in the past
I think their goals are not scientific research, but engineering demonstration. The design of this Mars mission is somewhat similar to the previous lunar missions. It is clear that their ultimate goal is human exploration of Mars. They don't want to dedicate too much in "Spirit" or "Curiosity" like science-oriented missions. If the first mission succeed, the second missions to Mars is sample return.
There is a simpler explanation. They are losing face to the Indians. Who does have a functional Mars orbiter right now. If ISRO manage to deployed another Mars orbiter before the Chinese have their initial orbiter than the Chinese national prestige suffers.
Think of the Indians & the Chinese as analogs of Bezes & Musk in an International one-upsmanship contest.
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#47
by
gosnold
on 27 Mar, 2017 17:28
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Perhaps what they meant by "local" are images taken by the Lander as is it descending to the surface.
That would be more coherent with the picture of the orbiter above. It does not seem to have a large telescope.
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#48
by
Dalhousie
on 27 Mar, 2017 21:26
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Why is china is such a hurry to launch a orbiter/lander/rover all in one go? With their lunar program they went step by step. With mars they seem to be rushing for some reason....not a good idea given how many missions to mars have failed in the past
I think their goals are not scientific research, but engineering demonstration. The design of this Mars mission is somewhat similar to the previous lunar missions. It is clear that their ultimate goal is human exploration of Mars. They don't want to dedicate too much in "Spirit" or "Curiosity" like science-oriented missions. If the first mission succeed, the second missions to Mars is sample return.
There is a simpler explanation. They are losing face to the Indians. Who does have a functional Mars orbiter right now. If ISRO manage to deployed another Mars orbiter before the Chinese have their initial orbiter than the Chinese national prestige suffers.
Think of the Indians & the Chinese as analogs of Bezes & Musk in an International one-upsmanship contest.
Thinking it's all about "face" is pandering to 19th century cultural stereotypes.
The media incapable of thinking of space activities in terms other of "races", but the reality is China, India, and everyone else their own national or organisational goals in here, which can be as much collaborative as competitive.
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#49
by
Dalhousie
on 27 Mar, 2017 21:31
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Why is china is such a hurry to launch a orbiter/lander/rover all in one go? With their lunar program they went step by step. With mars they seem to be rushing for some reason....not a good idea given how many missions to mars have failed in the past
I think their goals are not scientific research, but engineering demonstration. The design of this Mars mission is somewhat similar to the previous lunar missions. It is clear that their ultimate goal is human exploration of Mars. They don't want to dedicate too much in "Spirit" or "Curiosity" like science-oriented missions. If the first mission succeed, the second missions to Mars is sample return.
All missions are technical demonstration , but not as an end in itself generally. This is clearly a science focused mission given the extensive science payload.
Mars is a big place and the Curiosity and MER missions have covered only tiny parts of it, not even necessarily the best places.There is plenty more to learn by future rover missions.
Sample return missions are also science missions. China has Mars sample return as a goal. There is no indication that this mission will prepare for it though, except very generally.
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#50
by
chewi
on 20 Sep, 2017 11:17
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six rovers? )
Mars probe to carry 13 types of payload on 2020 missionBEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars probe will carry 13 types of payload, including six rovers, in its first mission to the planet, scheduled for 2020.
"The Mars exploration program is well underway," said Zhang Rongqiao, chief architect of the Mars mission, at the Beijing International Forum on Lunar and Deep-space Exploration, which opened Wednesday. "The payloads will be used to collect data on the environment, morphology, surface structure and atmosphere of Mars."
China plans to send a spacecraft to orbit, land and deploy a rover on Mars in 2020. The probe will be launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket fr om the Wenchang space launch center in southern China's Hainan Province.
The lander will separate from the orbiter at the end of a journey of around seven months and touch down in a low latitude area in the northern hemisphere of Mars wh ere the rover will explore the surface.
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#51
by
MATTBLAK
on 20 Sep, 2017 11:19
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If China could accomplish a Mars Sample Return mission - that would be a heck of an engineering, operations, science and 'Soft Power' coup! I wish them luck.
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#52
by
Phillip Clark
on 20 Sep, 2017 11:26
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SIX rovers?
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#53
by
chewi
on 20 Sep, 2017 11:31
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SIX rovers?
Apparently 6 payloads (instruments) on a rover?
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#54
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 20 Sep, 2017 11:55
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SIX rovers?
Apparently 6 payloads (instruments) on a rover?
That's correct (I have checked the original Chinese article). Also the 13 instruments refers to those on the orbiter.
Does anyone have a full list of them?
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#55
by
david1971
on 20 Sep, 2017 15:50
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So I've never thought about this, but do the Chinese have their own version of the DSN? Or will they simply buy time on the DSN?
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#56
by
Zed_Noir
on 20 Sep, 2017 16:08
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So I've never thought about this, but do the Chinese have their own version of the DSN? Or will they simply buy time on the DSN?
Don't think it will too hard or expensive for the Chinese to set up DSN tracking sites in Africa and Latin America.
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#57
by
plutogno
on 20 Sep, 2017 19:07
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#58
by
whitelancer64
on 20 Sep, 2017 20:02
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So I've never thought about this, but do the Chinese have their own version of the DSN? Or will they simply buy time on the DSN?
The short answer is Yes, they do. They have several large dishes spread out across China (one in the far West, One in the far South, one near Beijing, and one in the far East) and they are building another big one in Argentina.
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#59
by
savuporo
on 20 Sep, 2017 20:17
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Chinese DSN tracking capabilities are fairly advanced as well, Delta-DOR tracking and basically cosmic sharp shooting has been demonstrated. See Chang'e-2 Toutatis flyby maneuvering.