https://youtu.be/wUju9-cckKA?si=nZFOCga10mnCA_vs
The other component is the autonomous docking of the return probe in lunar orbit.
Soviets have done a lunar sample return, but they had a probe that would lift off directly into a earth return trajectory, but that seems to have limited both the liftoff mass and the possible zones in moon from which it can lift off. This seems a much more complex mission than that.
Also some animated videos of the misson show a skip re-entry back to earth, don't know if it is the case during this particular flight.
https://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/media/documents/DIMES-ai-space...
Martian winds make this more important there than on the Moon. The DIMES system integrates radar, visual images, and IMUs. They did not have a dedicated Doppler radar for horizontal velocity, for technical and cost reasons it was not workable.
From the introduction:
> Some of the challenges were subtler — and one in particular was subtle enough that it wasn’t fully appreciated until mission development was well underway.
> This was the challenge of martian winds. How to detect and compensate for them? In the worst-case scenario, they could tip the vehicle over in the final stages of descent such that the powered thrust intended to eliminate downward velocity might actually drive the platform sideways and down into the surface beyond the safety envelope of the airbag cushions.
> This article tells the story of how this late-understood challenge was addressed successfully — and, as it turned out, critically, for Spirit.
The system was improved and re-fielded for the successor missions - I think it goes under the name LVS now. One reference appears to be here: https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/what-we-do/applications/la...
Anyone building precision weapons has gotten fairly good at this.
If you've seen some of the Lunar or Martian landing videos, you'll notice that it's very hard to tell the scale. Especially on the Moon, the lack of atmosphere to disturb the surface makes it fractal-like, which probably really messes with the CV algorithm. It'd work fine when high up, but as you approach for landing, it would probably struggle, especially for, say, estimating how far away the surface is.
Official announcement by the CNSA: https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10565180/content....
Congratulations for such an achievement!
In general I don't think people really appreciate how ridiculously little we know about everything outside of our planet. Like for instance it was only in 2013 (!!!) that it was discovered that Mars' soil is relatively 'moist', about 2% water by mass. And that's just the topsoil layer - it's suggestive that below the surface it could well be even more moist.
But the Moon's much closer, so we must know more, right? Well water ice on the Moon was only confirmed in 2018!! [1] So actually starting to get surface samples, and explore more of the Moon, ideally with a rapid return to humans on it is so exciting because who knows what we'll find out next? The unknown is precisely what makes exploring the unknown so enticing, rewarding, and fun!
[1] - https://www.space.com/41554-water-ice-moon-surface-confirmed...
Thats for surface water, we confirmed a while longer the moon has water underground.
In theory yes, in practice it's never the case, you have to justify hard why you want to do the experience and what you expect. Especially with multi million dollar experiences like these
It is costly though to bring in a ton of <insert element> from the moon.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S254243512...
Takeaway: The samples indeed are very different.
https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465652/n6465653/c10523137/...
But then I do read and watch too much sci-fi!!
The last sample reveals something about the surface of the moon.
The sample this time is from a big, deep hole created by a heavy hit which penetrated into the core of the moon, thus reveals the internals of the moon.
It could also be an abandoned base.
Different bragging rights.
The issue has been that previous proposals have all been too complex and too expensive, eg, a second rover that has to retrieve the samples and then place them on a lander which has a rocket on-board, the rocket then launches back into orbit, where an orbiter picks up it up and brings it home.
They've recently started soliciting other ideas for a way it might be done from private industry. The most promising in my opinion being to use a Starship, so they would be able to send a large enough return rocket to not need an orbital rendezvous, significantly simplifying things. I doubt they're seriously proposing a crewed Starship sample retrieval just yet. Another neat proposal I've heard is to build on the success of the Ingenuity helicopter to have a bunch of similar helicopters go around picking up the samples instead of a rover.
China has a plan to get an orbiting probe to Neptune but nothing about returning Mars samples. Highlights the different scale of the problem.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-exploring-alternative... ("NASA Exploring Alternative Mars Sample Return Methods")
The latest Mars rover has an (IMHO, purely performative) function for collecting samples that, in theory, could be retrieved for Earth return by a separate lander in the future—one that hasn't been budgeted or designed yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseverance_(rover)#Samples_c...
The initial plan for retrieval involved Roscosmos and ESA, but that's been called off for now. So they need some new plans. My favourite part of their initial sample return plan was the decision to not use a parachute to land it on earth, since they couldn't be sure one wouldn't fail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Lunar_Research_S...
(nuclear power plans by Russia not so much)
Is there enough gravity on the moon to prevent the long-term health problems from the space station like bone, muscle and vision loss?
Nobody knows. You might think scientist can science up answers to any question but it is impossible to know this without long term data which is simply not available.
There were some experiments done in parabolic flights [2] but those only last for a very short time.
There is this literature review [2]. They are not optimistic: "It can be anticipated that partial gravity environments as present on the Moon or on Mars are not sufficient to preserve all physiological systems to a 1 g standard if not addressed through adequate countermeasures." Which is space speak for "you will need to go to the gym on the moon". But they are willing to admit how little there is to know for certain: "The methodological quality of the vast majority of the available/included studies is too low to generate a compeling evidence."
1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10411353/
2: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10....
Generating these data is one of the biggest pay-offs of a lunar colony.
Why? Any lunar base without nuclear power plans is not a serious effort.
Giant radiators?
edit: fixed typo, derp. fusion=fission
Maybe you could use helium or liquid sodium metal as the primary coolant, but then you still need to generate electricty via secondary water coolant loop that runs a steam-powered turbine. Really not plausible on the moon.
