Kunming observatory plays role in China moon shot,Yunnan Adventure Travel

Kunming observatory plays role in China moon shot

On the evening of December 14, 9:12pm Beijing time, China became only the third country ever to land a spacecraft on the moon. The following day, an unmanned rover was deployed to explore the lunar surface. The accomplishment is another step in a planned two-decade project that aims to place a Chinese astronaut on the moon before 2030.

A largely unknown facility in the eastern hills of Kunming is playing a crucial role, first in guiding the Chang'e 3 (嫦娥三号) spacecraft to a soft moon landing, and now in monitoring the movements of the Yutu (玉兔), or Jade Rabbit, lunar rover. The Yunnan Astronomical Observatory (YAO) is home to one of four linked radio telescope facilities sending and receiving information to both the lander and rover.

When the Yutu rover disembarked from the Chang'e 3 landing module late Sunday night it first engaged its solar panels and then raised a directional radio antenna. Signals from the transmitter were beamed back to earth and captured by China's Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) array, which consists of the 40-meter radio telescope at YAO as well as others in Beijing, Shanghai and Urumqi.

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