WASHINGTON – The United States space agency said Friday that its LunarReconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is expected to image the landing site ofChina’s lunar lander Chang’e-4 on Jan. 31.
NASA said it discussed in the past month with China to explore thepossibility of observing a signature of the landing plume of Chang’e-4, asin a manner similar to what was done for Chang’e-3.
NASA and China National Space Administration (CNSA) have agreed that “anysignificant findings resulting from this coordination activity” will beshared with the global research community at a UN meeting for peaceful usesof outer space to be held in Vienna in mid-February, according to NASA.
NASA said data linked to this activity would be publicly available and itscooperation with China was “transparent, reciprocal and mutuallybeneficial.”
NASA was not able to phase LRO’s orbit to be at the optimal location duringthe landing of Chang’e-4 on Jan. 3 “for a number of reasons,” but was”still interested in possibly detecting the plume well after the landing.”
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NASA did not specify what those reasons were, but Dwayne Brown, NASA’ssenior communications official, responded to Xinhua’s inquiry last week bysaying that “NASA is currently closed due to a lapse in governmentfunding,” and he is “in furlough status.”
Science gathered about how lunar dust is ejected upward during aspacecraft’s landing could inform future missions and how they arrive onthe lunar surface, said NASA. Xinhua.
