2016年CRI Chang'e 3 gathers plenty of data in past 30 months

 

Chang'e-3, with China's first moon rover aboard, successfully landed on the moon in December 2013, marking China's first successful soft-landing on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.

However its rover Jade¹ Rabbit became faulty and shut down in early 2014. Luckily, it awoke shortly after and has lasted beyond its life expectancy².

The Chang'e 3 mission has provided scientists with an enormous number of images which reveal valuable details about the lunar surface.

It made the first ever geological map of the moon with lunar penetrating³ radar⁴, providing an insight into the evolution of the moon and the basis to explore its resources.

Lin Yangting, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says the rover even discovered a new type of rock - the Lunar Basalt.

"The radar detected three layers of basalt under the ground. The top layer is 195 meters deep. This indicates that until the late period, about two billion years since it was born, there were still huge amounts of magma that were erupting. This shows that the activity of the magma on the moon lasted longer than expected."

Lin's colleague Wei Jianyan says Chang'e 3 also gathered data which confirmed speculation⁵ that there is no water on the moon.

"We measured the amount of water on the lunar surface and above, and found only very small quantities, which is in line with the expectations of the experts on the formation of the moon."

In addition, Chang'e 3's optical telescope made observations of the moon in the ultraviolet range at its north pole to provide information for comparison studies in the future.

Equipped with the world's first extreme ultraviolet imager, Chang'e 3 has been able to study changes in the plasmasphere to monitor solar storms that could disrupt telecommunications on earth.

Liu Tongjie, deputy director of the moon exploration center at the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense⁶, says the success of the Chang'e 3 has guaranteed China a leading role in moon exploration.

"Since the 1990s, the international community has conducted 13 lunar explorations, including five by the United States and four by China. China ranks second in terms of both the frequency of exploration and the scientific achievements. We can say that China has reached the advanced level in some areas of lunar exploration, and this has stimulated⁷ the development of moon exploration in the world."

China is planning to send another probe to the moon - the Chang'e 5 robotic lunar sample return mission - which is due to be launched in 2017 from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.

China has more launches coming up in its space missions.

The Tiangong 2 orbiting space lab has been delivered to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center where it will liftoff later this year.

It will dock with the crewed Shenzhou 11 spacecraft and a Tianzhou cargo⁸ vessel⁹ which are slated¹⁰ for launch later.

1 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

2 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

3 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

4 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

5 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

8 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

9 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

10 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。