China set to land robot rover on moon
Washington – China is ready to land a robotic rover on moon’s surface on Saturday, a major step in the country’s ambitious space exploration programme.
On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module is going to undergo a powered descent, using thrusters to perform the first soft landing on the Moon’s surface in the past 37 years, the BBC reported.
After some hours, the lander, weighing 120kg, is going to deploy a robotic rover called Yutu, which translates as “Jade Rabbit”.
The touchdown is going to take place on a flat plain called the Bay of Rainbows.
The new mission is the third robotic rover mission ever to land on moon surface, but the Chinese vehicle is carrying a lot more sophisticated payload, which includes ground-penetrating radar that is going to gather measurements of the lunar soil and crust.
