The Chinese Yutu-2 lunar rover, or Jade Rabbit-2, has moved 463.26 meters on the far side of the moon to conduct a scientific exploration of virgin territory.
Both the lander and rover of the Chang’e-4 probe have just completed their work for the 19th lunar day, and switched to idle mode for the lunar night due to lack of solar power, the Program Center for Exploration and Lunar Space of the China National Space Administration said on Sunday.
China’s Chang’e-4 probe, launched on December 8, 2018, made its first soft landing in the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin at the far end of the moon on January 3, 2019. .
As a result of the tidal blocking effect, the moon’s cycle of revolution is the same as its rotation cycle, and the same side always faces Earth. A lunar day equals 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is the same length.
During the nineteenth lunar day, Yutu-2 examined a small crater about three meters southwest of the scout vehicle and obtained a new batch of scientific detection data.
Yutu-2 has worked much longer than its three-month design life, making it the longest-running lunar rover on the moon.
The rover has helped scientists reveal secrets buried deep below the surface on the opposite side of the moon, enriching humanity’s understanding of the history of the celestial collision and volcanic activities and shedding new light on evolution geological of the moon.
The scientific tasks of the Chang’e-4 mission include making low-frequency radio astronomy observations, surveying terrain and landforms, detecting mineral composition and surface lunar surface structure, and measuring neutron radiation and neutral atoms.
The Chang’e-4 mission embodies China’s hope of combining wisdom in space exploration with four payloads developed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia.
China plans to launch its first Mars probe and the Chang’e-5 probe to bring lunar samples to Earth later this year.
(Cover image: Chinese lunar rover Yutu-2. / CNSA)
