A New Site to Explore on the Moon, Paul Spudis, Air & Space “… we are poised to investigate a new site on the Moon of considerable interest and complexity, one that displays a variety of geological units and processes. The Chang’E 3 lander and Yutu rover can provide many answers to our questions regarding the geological history of this region of the Moon and about lunar history in general. […]

China’s Chang’e-3 Heads For The Moon (with video), SpaceRef “China’s Chang’e-3 lunar rover Yutu (“Jade rabbit”) left Earth today aboard a Long March IIIB rocket today. Liftoff occurred at 12:30 pm EST from Xichang launch facility in in China’s Sichuan province. Chang’e-3 will take approximately four days to reach the Moon and will enter orbit on or around 6 December. A week or so later Change’e-3’s large landing stage will […]

Summary of Rules and Requirements, Google Lunar X Prize “The competition’s grand prize is worth $20 million. To provide an extra incentive for teams to work quickly, the grand prize value will change to $15 million whenever a government-funded mission successfully explores the lunar surface, currently projected to occur in 2013.” China’s Chang’e-3 to land on moon next year, China Daily “Ma said the Chang’e-3 would probe and explore the […]