As Rover Lands, China Joins the Moon Club

Tommy Maldonado

Just recently, China landed a spacecraft on the moon. The spacecraft’s name is Chang’e-3, and it took 13 days to reach the moon. It transported a solar-powered robot named the Jade Rabbit (Yutu in Mandarin Chinese). It landed in the Sinus Iridum, otherwise known as the Bay of Rainbows, where it has been exploring since its landing. Also, the rover carries radar, which will be used to gather information about the subterranean makeup of the moon. The area it is exploring in is a smooth plain composed of solidified lava from years ago. This landing has opened up numerous possibilities for the Chinese. They now plan to retrieve rocks and samples from the moon by 2020. In addition, within ten years, China could end up being the sole country with an operating space station, being that the International Space Station is to close down in 2020. This is around the time that China expects to put up their own. By accomplishing this successful landing, China became the third country to ever successfully perform a soft landing, the United States and the Soviet Union being the first two. A soft landing is when a spacecraft is landed and can work after such landing. This accomplishment is very significant for China. This is because, 37 years ago, when the Soviet Union performed a soft landing on the moon, Mao Zedong was within a month of his time of death. At this point in China’s history, the pandemonium that was China’s Cultural Revolution was about to begin. In summary, China was a rather unstable country at the time. Now, China is a successful, rich, strong country that is respected across the globe. Their government views their recent accomplishment as the first step to gaining industrial expertise, military strength, and status among the countries of the world.

            This article is greatly relevant to the average citizen for a multitude of reasons. First of all, if you live in China, this is an amazing outbreak for your country and a jovial time for rejoicing due the country’s recent accomplishment. Secondly, as stated before, this landing opens up various opportunities for China and can ultimately result in China becoming an omnipotent figure in the field of space. This can cause quite a bit of concern for any country and its citizens in existence other than China. Finally, simply the fact that three countries have now marked their place on the moon is an amazing outbreak and can boost the morale of the human race as a whole, being that they are able to take pride of their achievements.

            I think that this article was very well written. Not only did it include details about the rover itself, but it also provided events that will most likely take place in the future and its effect on the world, especially China. It described the spacecraft, its rover, and all of the instruments on the rover. In addition, it provided details about where it landed, what some of the things it was doing on the moon were, and more. I also believe that it was an extremely eloquent article. It smoothly incorporated quotes and was easy to follow. Finally, it provided pictures of what it was talking about at the time, allowing a greater comprehension of the reading. Though it had many strengths, there were but a few weaknesses in this article, I believe that its only flaw was that it was extensive in topics that were unnecessary. For example, it provided superfluous information on the where the spacecraft derived its name from. The only way to improve this article would be to simply omit this section, being that it was informative, yet uninteresting.

Citation:

 Buckley, Chris. "As Rover Lands, China Joins the Moon Club." Nytimes.com. 

          N.p., 14 Dec. 2013 Web. 18 Dec. 2013.