Chinese lunar rover and lander prepare for 14 days of frigid night on the moon

China has been successful so far in its first mission to the moon. The Chinese launched their moon mission, which landed on the moon on December 14. Both the Yutu Rover and the Chang'e-3 lander have functioned as designed so far. One of the biggest tests for both the pieces of Chinese equipment is set to begin soon.


Night on the moon is very harsh and a full lunar night lasts 14 earth days. The temperatures on the moon can get as low as -180 degrees during the lunar night. The problem is that temperatures that cold can damage the sensitive electronics inside the Chinese lander and rover.

To help prevent any damage from the frigid lunar night, the Chinese equipment will go into hibernation mode. The lander and the rover went into hibernation mode shortly after landing to avoid damage from direct solar radiation, and survived. The Chinese tested the rovers to the best of their ability while on Earth, but the real challenge comes in the incredibly cold temperatures on the surface of the moon during the lunar night.

The only way to know if the Chinese probes have made it through the cold lunar night, is if they start back up when it's over. To help keep the sensitive electronics from getting too cold, both the lander and the rover have a radioisotopic heat source inside a sealed compartment to keep the electronics at a temperature of 40C. Both probes should start back up on January 12, 2014.




SOURCE: InventorSpot

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HD cameras installed on ISS for Russia/Canada study

The International Space Station is seeing quite a bit of activity this Christmas week, with today’s action surrounding the installation of two high-fidelity cameras. This installation was initiated under Expedition 38 and executed by Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). This mission happens just three days after a US-based expedition (as seen in the hero image of this article) to replace faulty water pumps on the station.

While no images taken with these high fidelity cameras have yet been shared by the groups, it’s suggested that a commercial arrangement between Roscosmos and a Canadian company are behind the push. This installation of two cameras has been made to downlink Earth observation imagery.

This Russian mission is the last of six Russian spacewalks planned for the year 2013. Mike Hopkins, Expedition 38 Flight Engineer, took part in the faulty water pump replacement along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio. You’ll see Mastracchio in the reflection on the shield of the helmet of Hopkins in the image attached to this article.

According to Roscosmos, Kotov is walking through space for his fifth time while Ryazanskiy is walking for his second time. Together they’re installing one medium resolution camera (MRC) and one high resolution camera (HRC) as well as holding photographing screen-vacuum thermal insulation to the outer surface of the ISS.





VIA: NASA, ROSCOSMOS

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Researchers create robot muscles 1000 times stronger than humans

Researchers from UC Berkeley are working hard on making robots that are incredibly strong. Researchers at the university laboratory have created artificial robot muscles that could give a robot 1000 times the strength of a human. The robotic muscles are said to take advantage of special properties of a material called vanadium dioxide.

That material is a compound that is able to change from an insulator to a conductive metal at 67C. According to the researchers, when that transition happens a significant amount of strength occurs.

The scientists say that the transition creates enough power to move objects that are 50 times heavier than the robotic muscles themselves. The muscles are able to move the objects a significant distance as well, up to 5 times the length of the object within 60 ms. That is faster than the blink of an eye.

The muscles survived repeated contraction even when the speed was ramped up to 200,000 rpm. The researchers believe that the breakthrough will be able to create more powerful robots and the tech might be used to create the next generation of energy-efficient electronics.



SOURCE: Dvice

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China's Jade 'Rabbit Moon' rover sends back first photos

China’s Chang’e-3 lander and Jade Rabbit rover launched Dec. 1 and landed on the moon yesterday without incident, and now we’re getting footage of the event. The photos and videos show the moon up close and personal. We’re also seeing shots of both robots on the moon, apparently in full working order.

Chang’e-3 soft-landed on the lunar surface yesterday evening at 9:00 p.m. Beijing time. Below is a video of the lander’s controlled descent from the top-down perspective. Each pockmark of the moon is visible.

The pair waited a few hours before the rover rolled out at 4:35 a.m. Beijing time. Its exit was slow and careful as per the mission design. Check out the video footage below. The audio is keyed into mission control, where you can hear their applause of the team near the end of the reel.

The robots took some photos of each other for your higher-resolution enjoyment. The top image of this article is of the lander as taken by the rover. The one below is the reverse case. The images were released by China’s Beijing Aerospace Control Center today. They come to us here by way of the BBC.



SOURCE: BBC

SOURCE: Slashgear

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'Antarctica' sets record for lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth

It has been unusually cold here in parts of Texas, if we get below freezing and stay for a few days it’s a rare occurrence during the winter. Since we aren’t really prepared for the cold, those near freezing temps bring unending complaints from residents and make Northerners laugh. We’re a tropical people. Those near freezing temperatures are like a hot summer day compared to a record setting low recorded in Antarctica.

Scientists studying satellite data on the content recently found that the record low temperature was set back in August of 2010. No one even knew it got that cold until the data was recently analyzed. How cold did it get? In August of 2010, temperatures in East Antarctica reached -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

That works out to 93.2 degrees below 0C. That temp is cold enough that it would hurt to breathe according to scientists. The study of the satellite data also revealed that Antarctica came close to that record setting low again on July 31 of 2013.

On that day, the temperature dipped to -135.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a mere half-degree warmer than the record low. The previous coldest recorded temperature was -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit. One scientists said temps that low are akin to what we would see on the poles of Mars on a summer day. The scientist believes that these locations in Antarctica are the coldest places on Earth.












SOURCE: Fox News
SOURCE: slashgear

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Bezos Apollo 11 F-1 engine recovery confirmed: the real number 2044

It was just a few months ago that the folks working with Jeff Bezos and Bezos Expeditions headed to the depths of the sea to bring up a new collection of NASA history. This week it’s made clear – and confirmed – what they actually found: these F-1 engines belonged to none other than NASA’s mission Apollo 11. If there’s one tribute to the greatness of that moon exploration mission that we’re guessing Neil Armstrong wouldn’t have expected, this would be it.

The 20th of July will be the 44th anniversary of the original moon landing, and here in a mission that brought us down in the other direction to the ocean’s floor, the recovery of a big batch of hardware components brings the whole missing into clear view once more. The parts recovered here have become a whole heck of a lot more important than they were without identification here in the summer of 2013.

What’s been found – amongst other identifying markings, of course – is a simple 2044 stenciled in black paint on the side of one of the thrust chambers of these F-1 engines. This discovery was part of an in-depth exploration of the hardware’s markings and identifying bits and pieces, leading to the understanding that these units are connected to history as follows:

Rocketdyne serial number 2044 discovered stenciled in black paint
2044 correlates with NASA serial number 6044
Serial number 6044 F-1 Engine #5 belongs to Apollo 11

The connections are unmistakable – but wouldn’t just be left to a simple paint marking to hold solid. Upon deeper digging, corrosion removal delivered another clear “Unit No 2044″ stamped into the surface of the metal.

This post-sea in-depth exploration was and is continuing to be done by the conservation team at Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas. The announcement on this confirmation – stamps and all – was made here on the 19th of July, 2013.

Thanks for the tip, Jack!

SOURCE: Bezos Expeditions

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