Chang'e 3
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified.
Turn it in 3D
Open the 3D viewer (www.spaceradar.ai).
The viewer loads when you ask: about 700 kB the first time (three.js and the model), much less after.
Pictures 4
Three-quarter view
From the side
From behind
From above
About this model
Chang'e 3 is one of the 203 3D models Space Radar made itself: a lander or rover, built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh.
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified. It has 16,471 triangles in a 122 kB glTF file, and is 4.8 m across at full scale.
It is part of the map’s library; no object on the live map is drawn with it today.
Dimensions and their sources
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Span | 4.76 m |
| Body above ground | 0.83 m |
eoPortal, 'Chang'e-3', eoportal.org/satellite-missions/chang-e-3, OPENED 2026-10-20: 'its landing legs create a vehicle span of 4.76 m'; 'the lander body rests 0.83 m above the ground'; 'the lander is octagonal in shape with four landing legs that include secondary struts, bumpers and landing pads'; 'Two solar panels'; 'a single main engine'; 'Using a ~60 cm nozzle'; 'eight thruster modules'; 'installed on the smaller side panels of the vehicle'; 'Two ramps ... are deployed'; the camera 'Positioned on the top of the mast of the lander'; the EUV imager 'Located on the top side of the lander'; 'The telescope is positioned on the -Y side of the lander.' Wikipedia, 'Chang'e 4', OPENED 2026-10-20: 'Low Frequency Spectrometer (LFS)'; 'Terrain Camera (TCAM), mounted on top of the lander and able to rotate 360°'. OURS: the body 2.5 m across its big faces and 1.25 m tall, the legs on the corners, the panels 1.55 x 1.1 m sloping 20 to 24 degrees down, the ramps 1.9 m long, the columns, the mast, the dish, the whip and the LFS antennas' length (2.2 m as Yutu-2's pictures show them) (read 2026-10-20)
How it was made
Built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh. 3D model: built by Space Radar from published dimensions and pictures (CNSA/Siyu Zhang/Kevin M. Gill, CC BY 2.0; CNSA, CC BY 4.0).
The full record
built by this project in code (release 1.3.0 stage W3-c's scripts, one a craft, on W1-c's part library, kept with the stage's notes), from the cited dimensions and the pictures under `references`; no image-to-3D model was used, and no published mesh (CNSA publishes none under terms that allow a derivative, and NASA's 3D Resources and NASA Science's 3D models have none of these craft; read 2026-10-20)
Where the map uses it. the change-3 landing site (registry/sites.yaml), Mare Imbrium: the Chang'e 3 lander as it stands, Yutu gone and both ramps down, with its ultraviolet telescope and EUV camera. It was the generic lander, which is still what is drawn while this file is on its way; public #1125
Licence note. CC BY 2.0 (Yutu-2's pictures of the Chang'e 4 lander, the same design, CSNA/Siyu Zhang/Kevin M. Gill) and CC BY 4.0 (CNSA): looked at, with credit; nothing of them is in the file. The mock-ups' photographs are CC BY-SA 4.0 and were looked at only. The shape is this project's, under this repository's licence, built from published numbers (facts).
References 4
What the shape was compared with. None of these pictures is in the file.
- ChangE-4 - PCAMCNSA/Siyu Zhang/Kevin M. GillCC BY 2.0 (CSNA/Siyu Zhang/Kevin M. Gill; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20)
- ChangE-4 - PCAM (51216550288)CNSA/Siyu Zhang/Kevin M. GillCC BY 2.0 (CSNA/Siyu Zhang/Kevin M. Gill; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20)
- Yutu-2 leaving Chang e-4-iau1901aCNSACC BY 4.0 (CNSA; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20)
- Chang'e 4 mockup at CSTM 02ShujianyangCC BY-SA 4.0 (Shujianyang; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20)
.png){kind=link}
Use it
The model is under the MIT licence: use it, change it and share it, in any project, also a paid one. Keep the credit:
Chang'e 3 3D model by Space Radar (spaceradar.ai), MIT LicenseAny glTF 2.0 loader that reads meshopt compression (EXT_meshopt_compression) opens the file: three.js with its MeshoptDecoder, Babylon.js, model-viewer. Tools such as glTF-Transform can write an uncompressed copy.
Or embed the viewer in your page:
<iframe src="https://www.spaceradar.ai/model/?id=change-3" title="Chang'e 3, 3D model by Space Radar" width="600" height="450" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:100%"></iframe>Related models
