Manfred Memorial Moon Mission
Names | 4M |
---|---|
Mission type | Reconnaissance, memorial |
Operator | LuxSpace |
COSPAR ID | 2014-065B |
SATCAT no. | 40284 |
Website | luxspace |
Mission duration | 19 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | LuxSpace |
Launch mass | Payload 14 kg, 3rd stage of rocket to which payload was permanently attached 21,000 kg,[1] Nominal total=21,014 kg |
Dry mass | 14 kg (31 lb) |
Dimensions | 61 cm × 26 cm × 10 cm (2.00 ft × 0.85 ft × 0.33 ft) |
Power | 4.5 W |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 23 October 2014, 18:00:04 UTC[2] |
Rocket | Long March 3C/G2 |
Launch site | Xichang LC-2 |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Crashed |
Destroyed | 4 March 2022 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Highly Elliptical |
Perigee altitude | 1,282 kilometers (797 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 404,724 kilometers (251,484 mi) |
Inclination | 30.4° |
Period | 10.93 days |
Flyby of Moon | |
Closest approach | 28 October 2014[3] |
Distance | 13,000 km (8,100 mi) |
Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M) was the first private lunar probe to successfully fly by the Moon. It was led by
The spacecraft, along with the rocket stage to which it was attached, likely made impact with the surface of the Moon after its orbit decayed, on 4 March 2022.[8] This made Luxembourg the eighth country to reach the surface of the Moon.
Spacecraft
REMEMBER THE SPACE PIONEER MANFRED FUCHS.
REST IN PEACE MANFRED FUCHS.
DAMIT ALLE MENSCHEN AUF DERWELT IN FRIEDEN ZUSAMMEN LEBEN.
LA LI LU NUR DER MANN IM MOND SCHAUTZU WENN DIE KLEINEN KINDER SCHLAFEN UND SO SCHLAF AUCH DU.
DO NOT GO WHERE THE PATH MAY LEAD GO INSTEAD WHERE THERE IS NO PATH AND LEAVE
A TRAIL.
ALL LIFE IS AN EXPERIMENT. THE MORE EXPERIMENTS YOU MAKE THE BETTER.
Part of the message sent by the 4M[6]
The briefcase-sized probe, with a mass of 14 kg was built by the Luxemburg company
Payload
The radio payload consisted of a quarter-wave
- Dosimeter
The 4M probe featured a small dosimeter that measured ionizing radiation in space. The instrument was provided by the Spanish company iC-Málaga.[5][14] The instrument measured the total ionizing dose every 5 minutes, and it showed a significant increase in radiation doses while crossing Van Allen radiation belts.[15] 215 hours into the mission, the radiation sensor stopped working for unknown reasons.[6]
Mission
The probe was permanently attached to the third stage of Long March 3C/G2 on 23 October 2014 at 18:00 UTC along with Chang'e 5-T1, making its closest flyby a day after Chang'e 5-T1.[11] The lunar flyby took place during the night of 28 October 2014.[3] After that, the probe entered a highly elliptical geocentric orbit with a period of 14 days and it remains in space.[7][11] The last transmission from the spacecraft was received on 11 November 2014, 01:35 UTC.[6]
It is expected that the booster, along with 4M, should have impacted the Moon on March 4, 2022, near the Hertzsprung crater.[8] A campaign to reacquire radio contact with the probe, knowing it could theoretically be reactivated depending on the orientation of the solar panels, was performed both by radioastronomers and amateurs, but without success.[16][17]
Honorifics
The 4M probe was the first private lunar probe to successfully perform a lunar flyby.
The first commercial payload to the surface of the Moon was by Celestis,[19] that paid for commercial transportation of a human remains memorial on board the Lunar Prospector, which impacted the Moon's surface on 31 July 1999.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "CZ-3A-3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ a b c "Flyby has occurred this night". LuxSpace. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ a b "First commercial mission to the moon launched from China". Spaceflight Now. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ a b "China Readies Moon Mission for Launch Next Week". Space.com. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "End of 4M mission". LuxSpace. 18 November 2014. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ Saft. 21 January 2015. Archived from the originalon 24 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Corrected identification of object about to hit the moon". www.projectpluto.com. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ^ a b c "The mission". LuxSpace. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ "First Private Moon Mission to Launch on Chinese Rocket Today". Space.com. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Chang'e 5 Test Mission Updates". Spaceflight 101. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ "4M Moon Orbiter Carrying Ham Radio Payload to Launch on October 23". American Radio Relay League. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ "4M Reception Contest". LuxSpace. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- ^ a b First private Moon mission to launch on Chinese rocket today. Mike Wall, Space. 23 October 2014.
- ^ "Radiation Experiment". LuxSpace. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
- S2CID 247789975.
- ^ ""After a week long scan of the 2m satellite band no signals from 4M detected. [...] A plot of the last 24 hours..." Scott Tilley". Twitter. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ "HGS-1 Arrives in Earth Orbit". NASA. 29 April 1998. Archived from the original on 30 July 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ About the Luna 01 Flight. Celestis. Accessed 14 July 2018.
- ^ "No water ice detected from Lunar Prospector impact". NASA. 13 October 1999. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
External links
- Official website
- Manfred Memorial Moon Mission on Gunter's Space Page