ARLA/CLUSTER: Chineses preparam lançamento do seu satélite lunar Chang'e-4

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

 Chang'e-4: Yuanwang 6 tracking vessel prepares for Moon relay satellite
launch

The *Yuanwang 6* space tracking vessel has left port in preparation to
support the launch of the relay satellite required for China's ambitious
*Chang'e-4* lunar far side landing.

The Queqiao communications relay satellite is scheduled to launch from the
Xichang Satellite Launch Centre on May 21 or later via a Long March 4C
rocket, heading for an orbit beyond the Moon.

Yuanwang 6 will track the spacecraft after launch from southwest China as
it heads into orbit, observing its trajectory and providing survey and
control capabilities.

Yuanwang space tracking ships, whose name means 'long view' play a vital
role in China's space tracking and data network, with systems aboard
providing accurate information.

A second ship, Yuanwang 7, is already sailing for an undisclosed location
to support the launch, after assisting the launch of the Apstar-6C
satellite from Xichang on Friday.

The relay satellite is a precursor to the Chang'e-4 lander and rover
mission, which will attempt the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of
the Moon in late 2018.

As the far side of the Moon never faces the Earth, due to tidal locking,
the relay satellite is required to be in place beyond the Moon to
facilitate communications between terrestrial ground stations and the
Chang'e-4 lander and rover.

Its intended halo orbit around the second Earth-Moon Lagrange point more
than 60,000 kilometres beyond the Moon will make it accessible to both
ground stations on Earth and the lander on the lunar far side at all times.

As well as its main communications role, the relay satellite will carry the
Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) for low-frequency radio
astronomy experiments, and two microsatellites, named Longjiang-1 and
Longjiang-2, test low frequency radio astronomy and space-based
interferometry, as well as carry an *amateur radio* experiments.

Read more here:
https://gbtimes.com/change-4-yuanwang-6-tracking-vessel-prepares-for-moon-relay-satellite-launch
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