[ad_1]
BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua): The lander and rover of the Chang’e-4 probe went into idle mode for lunar night after working steadily during the 23rd lunar day, according to the Center for Space Program and Lunar exploration. of the National Space Administration of China.
The lander switched to idle mode at 9.40pm on Friday (Beijing time) as scheduled, and the rover, Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), at midnight on Friday, the center said.
A lunar day is equal to 14 days on Earth and a lunar night is the same length.
The Chang’e-4 probe, which switched to idle mode during lunar night due to a lack of solar power, had been on the opposite side of the Moon for 660 Earth days as of Saturday, and the rover has traveled 565.9 m.
During the 23rd lunar day, Yutu-2 headed northwest, traveling towards an area with basalt and an impact crater area with high reflectivity. On the way to the destination, the vehicle’s near-infrared spectrometer was used to detect a rock about 30 cm in diameter. The research team is analyzing the transmitted data.
Scientists carried out the first radiation measurements on the moon systematically documented with data acquired by the onboard neutron radiation detector. According to the study published in the journal Science Advances, the surface of the moon is highly radioactive, about two to three times the International Space Station, five to ten times a civil flight, and 300 times the surface of the Earth from Beijing.
The study provided a baseline for estimating the hazards of lunar surface radiation and designing radiation protection for future lunar astronauts.
The Chang’e-4 probe, launched on December 8, 2018, made the first soft landing in the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin on the opposite side of the moon on January 3, 2019.
October 24 is an important day for China’s lunar exploration.
On October 24, 2007, China’s first Chang’e-1 lunar probe was launched, making China the fifth country to develop and launch a lunar probe on its own and ushered in a new era of deep space exploration. for China.
It mapped 3D images of the lunar surface, analyzed the distribution of elements, measured the depth of the lunar soil, and explored the environment between the Earth and the Moon. Chinese scientists published the first complete map of the moon’s surface in November 2008, thanks to Chang’e-1.
After orbiting the moon for about 16 months, the probe made a controlled crash on the lunar surface in March 2009.
On October 24, 2014, China launched an experimental spacecraft to test technologies to be used on the Chang’e-5, which is expected to bring samples from the moon to Earth.
The spacecraft, which comprises a reentry capsule and a service module, flew around the moon in a half circle.
The return capsule landed at the designated landing area in Siziwang Banner, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 1, 2014. – Xinhua
[ad_2]
