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Changâe-6 set for weekend landing attempt as sun rises over Apollo crater
May 29, 2024
Changâe-6 is set to make its lunar landing attempt this weekend, in what will be a critical moment in Chinaâs mission to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon.
Changâe-6 launched May 3 and entered lunar orbit just over four days later. Since then it has been waiting for optimal conditions for its landing attempt.
The farside of the moon, never visible from Earth, holds keys to scientific mysteries relating to the moonâs history and composition.
The mission is targeting a landing in the southern portion of Apollo crater within the vast South Pole-Aitken basin. The sun began to rise over the crater on the lunar far side early May 28.
Landing is now set for approximately 8:00 p.m. Eastern Saturday, June 1 (0000 UTC June 2), according to the European Space Agency (ESA), which is involved via a payload developed in Sweden.
The Changâe-6 lander module will separate from the mission orbiter in lunar orbit in preparation for descent. The landing is timed according to suitable lighting levels on the surface and the landerâs orbit.
If successful, the lander will go through initial checks and setup. It will then begin drilling and scooping up materials from the surface.
These samples, expected to weigh up to 2,000 grams, will be loaded into an ascent vehicle. The ascender will then launch the precious cargo back into lunar orbit for rendezvous and docking with the orbiter. Surface operations will last about 48 hours.
All aspects of Changâe-6 have been planned and timed exquisitely in order for the mission to have a chance at success.
Chinese scientists are excited about the prospects for analyzing the samples, if they are successfully delivered to Earth around June 25.
âI have been analyzing the scientific data of the Changâe-4 mission that landed on the far side of the moon, and I am constantly excited to have new findings from the ongoing rover data.
Therefore, I am particularly excited about the Changâe-6 missionâ Xu Yi, an assistant professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology, told SpaceNews.
âThe reasons for the asymmetry in the scale of volcanic activity between the lunar nearside and farside are still subject to different hypotheses.
Changâe-6 will probably collect lunar samples from various sources, including products of local volcanic activity. Dating and compositional analysis of these samples will provide more ground truth information about volcanic activity on the far side.â
The Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) payload developed by the Swedish Institute of Space physics and the Detection of Outgassing RadoN (DORN) instrument from France will collect data during the landerâs operational period on the surface.
An Italian passive laser retro-reflector is aboard the lander, which is also carrying a small rover. The lander will then suffer damage from the launch of the ascent module, likely ending surface operations.
Changâe-6 also carried a small, jointly developed Pakistan-Chinese university satellite. Icube-Q captured images of the moon and sun once released into lunar orbit.
Due to the far side of the moon being permanently out of view from Earth, direct communication is impossible. To overcome this, the mission is supported by the Queqiao-2 satellite.
That spacecraft is operating in a specialized lunar orbit. Its role is to bounce communications between Changâe-6 on the far side and ground stations on Earth.
Based on the 2020 Changâe-5 nearside sample return mission, the ascender and orbiter will likely rendezvous and dock around two days after launch.
The ascender will be discarded a further couple of days later. The orbiter would then prepare to leave lunar orbit at a calculated time.
It would then release a reentry capsule just ahead of its return to Earth, around June 25.
Changâe-5 collected 1,731 grams of samples, down from the expected 2,000 grams due to a drilling issue. The samples have revealed a number of insights into the moon, its composition and its history.
Samples were first made available to Chinese institutions, but access has been expanded to international scientists.
NASA researchers have also been granted permission to apply for samples, in an exception to a Congressional prohibition on bilateral activities between NASA and Chinese entities.
Changâe-6 is part of Chinaâs broader lunar goals. The country will follow up with two missions to the south pole of the moon. These are Changâe-7 in 2026 and Changâe-8 around 2028.
The country aims to launch its first crewed lunar mission by 2030. Both sets of missions are part of a plan to establish a permanent lunar base.
https://spacenews.com/change-6-set-for-weekend-landing-attempt-as-sun-rises-over-apollo-crater/
United States Air Force Weapons School celebrates 75 years of advanced training
May 28, 2024
Marking three-quarters of a century of excellence, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School welcomed distinguished visitors to commemorate its storied history May 17 and 18.
The 75th anniversary weekend facilitated discussions about the school's ongoing commitment to preparing Airmen and Guardians for the challenges of Great Power Competition between hundreds of alumni and former military officials including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, and former Air Force chief of staff, retired Gen. John Jumper.
âWhen I came in as a chairman, I laid out an expectation letter. One of the areas I highlighted was honing our warfighting skills has primacy in all we do, and that's what the weapons school does,â Brown said.
âIt's not just the skills that we utilize within our Air Force, but it's what we do with our allies and partners to ensure that we have all the capabilities to become our adversaries' worst nightmare.
We want our adversaries to wake up every day and say, not today, because of the capabilities we have.â The USAFWS has been a cornerstone of excellence in military education since its inception as a gunnery school in 1949.
The school has since evolved beyond their initial mission of training the next generation of pilots, and they now specialize in providing high-end training to tactical experts and leaders across a myriad of career fields on controlling and exploiting air, space and cyberspace on behalf of the joint force.
Todayâs U.S. Air Force Weapons School encompasses 21 squadrons, teaching 31 weapons instructor courses, eight advanced enlisted courses and 39 combat specialties at nine locations across the country, graduating approximately 150 students every six months.
âOur purpose is to create combat leaders who are going to lead our future squadrons,â said U.S. Air Force Col. Charles Fallon, USAFWS commandant.
âOne of our main areas of focus is making students expert integrators so they can build and execute a plan comprised of many different assets and capabilities.â
Attendees of the anniversary weekend reflected on the school's enduring legacy and its profound impact on the joint force, as well as U.S. allies and partners.
From its humble beginnings to its current status as a global leader in advanced military education, the USAFWS remains steadfast in its mission to produce exceptional leaders and enhance the combat readiness of the joint force.
In conjunction with the USAFWS 75th anniversary celebrations, Saltzman, a Weapons School graduate, gathered with around 130 space weapons officers, comprised of active-duty Guardians as well as Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard Airmen, at Nellis Air Force Base to discuss the need for a foundational service framework, the importance of creating combat ready forces for the joint fight, and forging a purpose-built Space Force.
âWhat a first-assignment weapons officer brings to the table is far superior to what the school developed 20 years ago,â Saltzman said.
âEvery system in the Space Force has to be able to provide effects in the face of a determined and thinking adversary, and itâs weapons officers who have to develop the tactical echelonsâŚyou are expected to lead change and tactics development at the unit level.â
As the festivities ended, the true significance of 75 years of advanced training became clear. The legacy of the USAFWS will continue to inspire future generations of leaders, ensuring our forces are prepared to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3788933/united-states-air-force-weapons-school-celebrates-75-years-of-advanced-training/
UFO whistleblower 'shaken' after chilling warning to be âcareful what he saysâ
09:00, 28 MAY 2024
A top US university professor who claimed that aliens are '100%' living among usâ claims that he has been has been given a sinister official warning to âbe careful what you say.â
Stanford professor Garry Nolanâs revelation comes after the news that a person âassociated with the UFO back engineering programâ died, apparently as a result of taking his own life.
Daniel Sheehan, a lawyer associated with the UFO disclosure community, announced the unnamed engineerâs death, saying âIt wasnât until law enforcement concluded its investigation that we learned that no foul play was involved.â
His client, former Pentagon agent Lue Elizondo has also released a statement stressing that he has no thoughts of self-harm.
Elizondo claimed that he had been informed of a threat to his life as a result of his UFO activism and wrote:
âI would like to make this perfectly clear to the American people: I am not prone to accidents! I'm not suicidal! I'm not abusing drugs! I am not engaged in any illicit activities.
If something happens to me or my family members in the future, you will know what happened!â
Now Garry Nolan, speaking on That UFO Podcast, has described a disturbing phone call he received, discouraging him from saying too much about the US governmentâs UFO program.
Referring to Elizondoâs statement, he said: "I know the specific incident that Lue is discussing; it was real and it's ongoing. Itâs not my place to [talk about it] but it's pretty serious.
âI got a phone call myself at one point, basically telling me to be careful how I was talking about things. I won't go into the specifics of what was said and all the rest but it shook me.â
Professor Nolan said the chilling came from âsomeone in the government.â He has been increasingly active within the UFO community since 2012, after debunking the alleged âalien mummyâ found in Chile's Atacama Desert.
Shortly after that incident, he claims to have been approached by "some people representing the government and an aerospace corporation to help them understand the medical harm that had come to some individuals, related to supposed interactions with an anomalous craft" because "they were interested in the kinds of blood analysis that my lab can do".
In May 2023, he publicly claimed that several world governments have retrieved material from extraterrestrial craft, saying that itâs â100% certain" that extraterrestrials have not only visited Earth but have been visiting Earth for a long time.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/ufo-whistleblower-shaken-after-chilling-32903160