In the stirring soundtrack Chinese Youtube (above) a Chinese Long March-3B rocket blasts off, on December 8, 2018, carrying China's unmanned Chang'e-4 lunar probe with a Moon Rover for a soft landing mission on the far side of the Moon.
The Long March-3B (see Wikipedia right sidebar) is 55 meters tall and weighs 426,000 kg. This might be compared with the US Falcon 9 rocket (70 meters tall, weighing 549,000 kg) used for cargo resupply to the International Space Station (ISS) and other uses.
Will a manned space race re-ignite? This time between China and the US?
Even now the US and Chinese space agencies seem to be competing in the media for achievement announcements. On January 1, 2019 NASA announced a major milestone in the New Horizons probe mission. By announcing now NASA may be intentionally deflating the coming Chinese announcement of Chang'e-4 lunar probe landing on the Moon, due to happen January 2 or 3, 2019.
Unlike NASA's last Mercury blast off in the 1960s astronaut on ground exuberance Chinese Mission Control in 2018 is professionally quiet (not even mission chatter) in the China Youtube, as though no mission is happening. Cultural differences?
Chang'e-4 entered a planned orbit on December 30, 2018 to prepare for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.
Chang'e-4 has entered an elliptical lunar orbit between 15 km and 100 km from the Moon's surface said CNSA.
US Apollo 8 astronauts were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with the naked eye when they orbited the Moon in 1968.
China's Chang'e 4 spacecraft is scheduled to make the first soft landing on the far side on January 2 or 3 2019.
See previous two Submarine Matters' articles on China's superpower space achievements:
- Chinese Manned Spacecraft Docking Glory, February 17, 2012, and
- Chinese Manned Spacecraft Docking Glory, February 17, 2012, and
Pete