Teleskop Chang’e 3 wciąż działa BY KRZYSZTOF KANAWKA ON 9 CZERWCA 2017
(...) Na pokładzie lądownika Chang’e 3 zainstalowano dwa naukowe układy optyczne. Jednym z nich jest Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) o aperturze 150 mm. Ten teleskop do dziś działa i wykonuje obserwacje astronomiczne na paśmie ultrafioletu, w zakresie 245 – 340 nm. Jedna z wartościowych obserwacji dotyczy obecności cząsteczek OH i H2O w bardzo rzadkiej „atmosferze” (a ściślej: egzosferze) Księżyca. Okazuje się, że w rejonie, gdzie wylądował Chang’e 3 tych cząsteczek jest znacznie mniej (dwa rzędy wielkości) od wartości wykrytych w innych misjach (w tym LCROSS, która celowo uderzyła w wiecznie zacieniony krater w okolicy bieguna południowego). (...)
http://kosmonauta.net/2017/06/teleskop-change-3-wciaz-dziala/China’s telescope on the Moon is still working, and could do for 30 yearsby Andrew Jones Jun 05, 2017
The Chang'e-3 lander on Mare Imbrium, imaged by the Yutu rover. Chinese Academy of SciencesChina’s Chang’e-3 lander and its Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) are still operational, three and a half years after landing on the Moon.The LUT has been monitoring variable stars and stars like our own Sun, and also performing low-galactic-latitude sky surveys during the daytime periods over Mare Imbrium, the area in which Chang’e-3 landed.
Wang Jing at the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) told gbtimes that the lander was still waking automatically after hibernating during a 14 Earth-day-long period of nighttime on the Moon.
Chang’e-3 is still in contact with ground stations in China during these periods of sunlight and transmitting data from LUT, which is the only instrument on the lander that is still operational.
The lack of atmosphere makes the Moon a prime place for UV astronomy, which is not possible at low altitudes on Earth, and the LUT has yielded some interesting results.
Above: An image of the Pinwheel galaxy captured earlier by the UV telescope on the Chang'e-3 lander (NAO).“The most significant scientific result from the LUT telescope is the water content in the lunar exosphere,” Wang says.
The lunar exosphere refers to the almost negligible amount of molecules above the Moon’s surface. If present in the Moon’s silicate rocks, OH and H2O molecules could be released due to micro-meteor impacts and the effects of the solar wind.
The presence of substantial quantities of water on the Moon would be a big boost for plans to establish a lunar habitat, as transporting water from Earth for astronauts would be very expensive. It would also serve as a potential source of oxygen and propellant.
However in situ measurements carried out by LUT revealed the concentration of OH/H2O molecules to be about two orders of magnitude lower than the values reported by previous missions, with the results reported in a paper by Wang and others. (...)
http://gbtimes.com/chinas-telescope-moon-still-working-and-could-do-30-years