Surprise Chinese lunar mission hit by launch anomaly A pair of Chinese spacecraft, apparently intended for lunar orbit, have potentially been lost following an issue with a Long March rocket's upper stage on Wednesday.
  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    143·
    3 months ago

    Well for one, lunar missions are usually the result of a LOT of planning and preparation, so it coming as a surprise is itself quite the anomaly 😛

  • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io
    102·
    3 months ago

    That sucks, but lunar missions aren’t exactly something you should just be pulling out of your ass. Glad nobody was hurt though!

  • naturalgasbadOP
    537·
    3 months ago

    Reeks of sabotage to me. The Long March 2C is a remarkably reliable rocket.

    • Pennomi@lemmy.world
      English
      24·
      3 months ago

      The anomaly may not have a great impact on China’s wider launch plans, as the rocket’s first and second stage performed nominally, and the issue isolated to the infrequently-used YZ-1S upper stage.

      Unlikely sabotage, it’s probably just a lesser tested component of the stack failing. Space is really hard.

    • NaibofTabr@infosec.pubEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      Rockets explode. Sometimes you get lucky and they only explode in the direction that you want.