Posted on by Evan Gough

China Shares Stunning New Moon Photos With the World

China has released hundreds of images of the Moon, taken by its Chang’e 3 lander and its companion rover, Yutu. It’s been 50 years since the first lunar photos were taken by astronauts on NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. China is the third nation to land on the Moon, with the USA and the USSR preceding them.

Even though the Yutu rover’s engine failed after a short time on the lunar surface, the mission’s camera systems have captured hundreds of images.

Thanks to the hard work of Emily Lakdawalla at The Planetary Society, who wrestled with a somewhat cumbersome Chinese website, and stitched some of these images together, we can get a first-hand look at what Chang’e 3 and Yutu were up to.

Here are some of our favourites.

Pyramid Rock, as named by the Chinese. This rock was ejected when the crater immediately behind it was created. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
Pyramid Rock, as named by the Chinese. This rock was ejected when the crater immediately behind it was created. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.

 

This is a 360 degree panoramic image of the rover and part of the lander. Bright white rocks litter the rim of the crater on the left. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
This is a 360 degree panoramic image of the rover and part of the lander. Bright white rocks litter the rim of the crater on the left. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
The Yutu lander looks at its tracks in the lunar soil. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
The Yutu lander looks at its tracks in the lunar soil. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
This image shows a lot of detail of the Yutu rover. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.
This image shows a lot of detail of the Yutu rover. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Centre for Moon and Deep Space Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla.

Emily Lakdawalla talks more about the camera systems here, and talks about what other images might be coming soon.

Universe Today reported on the Chinese Moon mission here.

5 Replies to “China Shares Stunning New Moon Photos With the World”

  1. Talk about a moon landing HOAX. These Chinese aren’t even able to feed all their people and they want us to think they are smart enough to land on the moon. AND not even tell us where they landed so we can look.

    2. Sorry, ray, but that’s about the most ignorant comment one can come up with. Yes they can feed all their people, and no it is not (yet) a democracy. The Chinese are smart, there is no illiteracy, even children at age 14 can already converse in English with you… even though, what on earth can they learn from you? 😉

  2. Wake up Ray… at this point it looks like the Chinese will get back to the Moon before we do! I’m actually kind of glad about this because maybe a Chinese flag on the Moon will awaken and spur our congress to do something about it?

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