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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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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