The year 2013 was marked by the launch of the first Chinese lunar rover named "Yuytu" ("Jade Hare") to a natural satellite of the Earth. Yuytu became the first spacecraft to land on the lunar surface after a long hiatus. The last soft landing on our satellite was carried out back in 1976 by the Soviet space station Luna-24, and the last rover, the Soviet apparatus Lunokhod-2, visited there more than 40 years ago. His program was completed on May 11, 1973. At first, the Chinese program developed quite successfully, but then it ran into difficulties. The recent refusal of the lunar rover just reminded of how difficult it is for mankind to take every step on a natural satellite.
The Chinese lunar rover is a unique six-wheeled vehicle that can move along the lunar surface at speeds of up to 200 meters per hour. The tasks of the apparatus include the study of the geological structure of the Moon and its soil.
The moon rover received an unusual name in honor of one of the famous characters in Chinese mythology. According to legend, the jade hare lives on the satellite of the Earth and prepares the powder of immortality there.
The Jade Hare was brought to the moon by the Chanye-3 spacecraft (according to Chinese mythology, this is the goddess of the moon) on December 16, 2013. The successful lunar landing "Yuytu" was the first, since 1976, the appearance of an earth apparatus on the lunar surface.
Immediately after landing, the lunar rover sent a number of color photographs to Earth, one of which clearly shows the lunar rover itself and the flag of China above it. Immediately after the successful lunar landing, representatives of the PRC started talking about the fact that in 2017 they were going to launch another research probe satellite - Chang'e-4 - to the moon. The mission of this space program is to deliver soil samples from the Moon to Earth.
Chinese moon rover "Yuytu"
However, at the end of January 2014, the Chinese lunar rover malfunctioned. Experts have fixed a problem in the mechanical control system of the Lunokhod. Chinese engineers explained the malfunctions and interruptions in its work on board the "complex relief of the moon's surface" in the area of operation of the "Jade Hare." Currently, work on restoring the functioning of the lunar rover continues.
According to the original plan, the Chinese space agency expected that the device would leave the natural satellite of the Earth in March 2014. At the same time, it is currently not known whether the breakdown of the apparatus will affect the schedule for the lunar expedition. It is also worth noting that the malfunction of the Yuytu lunar rover was the first public failure of a rather ambitious Chinese space program. Prior to that, for several years, the PRC successfully launched various manned spacecraft into space.
All this is interesting in light of Russia's upcoming lunar program. In 2016, the Russian spacecraft Luna-25, the vanguard of the Russian landing force, which consists of 5 stations, will go to the lunar surface. There will be a moon rover among them. Fortunately, our country has the experience of sending such ships to the moon. At one time, the USSR sent two rovers to the lunar surface: Lunokhod-1 and Lunokhod-2. At the same time "Lunokhod-1" became the first rover in the history of mankind.
Lunokhod-1 carried out a detailed survey of the lunar surface on an area of 80 thousand square meters, having covered 10 540 meters on the Moon. The device landed on November 17, 1970, the last successful communication session with the Lunokhod was carried out on September 14, 1971. The device transmitted more than 200 lunar panoramas to Earth, as well as more than 20 thousand images of the lunar surface. At the same time, he was engaged in the transmission of not only visual information, conducting physical, mechanical and chemical studies of the properties of the soil along the movement. The duration of the active functioning of the apparatus on the lunar surface was 301 days, 6 hours and 37 minutes.
Chinese lander
The second Soviet spacecraft for exploration of the lunar surface, Lunokhod-2, successfully landed on January 15, 1973. After landing, it turned out that his navigation system was damaged. As a result, the ground crew constantly had to navigate by the Sun and the environment. Despite such damage, the device managed to cover a much greater distance compared to its predecessor. This was due to the experience of controlling the "Lunokhod-1" and a number of innovations in its design. For 4 months of operation, the device covered 42 km. The Earth received 86 panoramas of the Moon and more than 80 thousand photographic frames. The operation of the apparatus was terminated earlier than planned due to overheating of the apparatus and its failure.
Against this background, the problems and unfavorable factors that should be taken into account when creating lunar vehicles are of interest. According to the official Chinese media, the cause of mechanical problems aboard the "Jade Hare" was a difficult situation on the lunar surface. According to bloggers, when preparing the device for transfer to sleep mode during a moonlit night, it did not have solar panels. This was due to either a computer failure or the presence of small particles of soil in the mechanism. Pan Zhihao, who is an employee of the National Academy of Space Technology, identified the following probable causes of the malfunction: weak gravity, strong radiation and significant temperature fluctuations.
Various Soviet and American vehicles have been landing on the lunar surface since the 1960s. Therefore, the conditions that exist on its surface have been known to designers for a long time. These are radiation, vacuum, very low temperatures at night (up to -180 degrees Celsius), as well as loose soil. The Russian apparatus "Luna-25" will also fall asleep for 2 weeks, while the local night lasts on the moon, said Igor Mitrofanov, head of the gamma spectroscopy laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"Lunokhod-2"
The specialist notes that the most effective way of the normal functioning of the device on the Moon is to direct all the energy that is generated on board to its own heating. The spacecraft is wrapped in a multilayer film and a special blanket. In the conditions of a very cold night on the moon, due to this, he will be able to maintain a minimum efficiency. In order to minimize the effects of radiation, it is necessary to use a radiation-resistant element base. In order for the logically active part of the apparatus and its main components to be protected from possible failures that may be associated with cosmic ray particles, it is necessary to duplicate its systems.
Thanks to the Soviet lunar rovers, scientists around the world learned about the insidiousness of moon dust. When electrified, the lunar dust sticks to the solar panels of the device, reducing their recoil, which, in turn, prevents the batteries from being fully charged. According to Alexander Zheleznyakov, academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, it is necessary to orient the panels in such a way that dust particles fall on them less. At the same time, today there are simply no unambiguous solutions to brush them off. On the "Lunokhod-2" there was just such a nuisance. During the movement, the device tilted unsuccessfully and scooped up a certain amount of lunar dust, which covered its batteries, and then disabled the device. It is necessary to work on creating algorithms that would allow avoiding such troubles.
According to Zheleznyakov, while creating their lunar rover "Yuytu", the Chinese probably foresaw such moments. At the same time, the incident with their lunar rover will be taken into account by Russian specialists who are working on the creation of new Russian lunar vehicles. Despite the paucity of information about the state of the Chinese lunar rover, Alexander Zheleznyakov is confident that additional attention of Russian developers will be drawn to this situation, although he believes that no serious modifications of the devices will follow.
The lunar day has already come, it has become warmer on the satellite. According to plans, on February 8-9, 2014, the Chinese lunar rover was to wake up from hibernation. Even if this does not happen, Chinese specialists will still be able to gain the necessary and invaluable experience. In any case, the mission can be recorded as successful, since there were no problems with the lunar rover landing platform, which has its own set of equipment and instruments, including an ultraviolet telescope, which transmits the first astronomical observations from the lunar surface in history.
