China’s Chang’e 4 mission just completed a major milestone: The mission’s lander and rover wrapped up 10 lunar days of tasks, including conducting analysis and sending new images, on the far side of the moon.
Earlier this month, the Chang’e 4 lander and the Yutu 2 rover went into a “hibernation” on October 5, so they could survive the far side of the moon’s frigid temperatures, Space.com reported. The 10th lunar night, which lasted approximately 14 days, was extremely cold: Temperatures may decrease to as low as minus 310 degrees Fahrenheit and could be threatening to spacecrafts’ controls.
Yutu-2 rover from the Chang’e-4 mission has returned some cool new images from the far side of the Moon. First, this time lapse gives an idea of the Sun angle and shadows changing through the lunar day. i: CNSA/CLEP pic.twitter.com/DcphSyzfIF
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) October 14, 2019
The China Lunar Exploration Program said the lander and rover started lunar day 10 on September 22 and September 23. Yutu 2 drove a distance of only 16.7 feet, most likely due to its analysis of an impact crater and the lunar surface during this time. After moving a total of 950 feet, the rover is now traveling west from the Chang’e 4 landing site, also known as Statio Tianhe.
China’s #Yutu-2 rover is continuing to make tracks on the lunar far side, rocks on into Lunar night 5 and has so far travelled 190.66 meters, According to the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) on 10 March pic.twitter.com/0hXq5KlnsP
— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) May 11, 2019
According to the China Lunar Exploration Program and NASA, the Chang’ e 4 lander and rover are doing well: Sunrise will take place over the Chang’e 4 landing site in Von Kármán crater on October 21, while Yutu 2 will “wake up” for the 11th lunar day on October 22 and the lander will do the same roughly a day later.
More on Geek.com:
- India’s Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter Snaps Pictures of Moon’s Surface
- NASA Releases 3D Moon Map for Visual Artists
- Best Skywatching Events in October 2019
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