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1/27/2014 7:03:51 PM
27
Chinese Moon Rover Doomed to Freeze
[quote]Saturday night, China's space agency got some very bad news, and it's only getting worse. The country's first lunar rover, the Jade Rabbit, ran into a "mechanical control abnormality" over the weekend, and a growing chorus of experts indicate this may be the end of the line for the robot. Observers say the equipment failure may have disabled the electrical motors needed to close the rover's solar panels, which would have disastrous effects as the rover heads into the two-week "lunar night."[/quote]
Despite the little flame of USA nationalistic pride I got from reading that, it really is bad news for science, since we were hoping to get some good info from that machine over the next few months :(
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Working in the manufacturing sector, it is good to see the Chinese fail at something Americans have succeeded at. Just like they have been trying to copy our patented designs, but failed because they skimp on materials, details, and labor. That said, their space program isn't quite the same thing as the guys trying to steal our products. It is particularly sad that they failed because Chinese success in space may prompt us to quit fooling around with completely government subsidized "private" space missions to low orbit and start to push some boundaries again.
