NASA Deploys Four Spacecraft to Witness Chang'e-3 Moon Landing

Since the Apollo program landed 12 men on the moon, NASA has been committed to lunar science. With modern robotic spacecraft like Clementine and Lunar Prospector, and more recent missions such as LCROSS and GRAIL, NASA's scientific investigations have helped map the surface of the moon, identified the presence of water ice, and understood our satellite's irregular gravity field. NASA's current lunar missions are helping us better understand our solar system, informing future robotic exploration of other planetary bodies, and bringing us closer to the technologies necessary for future exploration destinations like asteroids and Mars.

Scientists are currently using four NASA spacecraft to study our moon. China’s Chang’e-3 landing on December 14 may offer them an opportunity to collect new data. Researchers in the U.S. and internationally see this landing as a brand-new scientific opportunity that could enhance studies of the lunar atmosphere and observations.

When Chang'e-3 landed on the moon, NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and two probes called Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) were still orbiting the moon and continuing their scientific missions.

Although there is no collaboration between the United States and China on these missions, U.S. researchers see potential scientific value in this landing. The data collected will be made available to the international scientific community.