China successfully landed a lander and rover on the far side of the moon during the Chang’e-4 mission. The rover deployed from the lander on December 3, 2018. This marks the first time a lander and rover have successfully landed on the far side of the Moon. The rover is named Yutu 2 (or Jade Rabbit 2). This naming practice is following the practice from the Chang’e-3 mission which landed on Mare Imbrium on the near side of the Moon in December 2013. The naming was done by committee to judge submissions from a public contest.
The Chang’e-4 spacecraft made its descent from lunar orbit to a pre-selected landing area with the Von Kármán crater at 02:26 universal time Thursday (10:26 Beijing time).
The Chang’e-4 ‘Yutu 2’ rover was deployed on the lunar surface at 14:22 UTC, December 3, 2018. CLEP/CNSA
Subsequently, the lander returned the first ever images from the lunar far side surface. Images from its descent and others cameras sent to Earth via the Queqiao relay satellite. Chang’e-4 landing site is 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south following a 12-minute powered descent.
Roughly twelve hours later, the China Lunar Exploration Project (CLEP) announced Yutu 2 rover had descended from atop the lander at 14:22 UTC.
Chang’e-4 rover ‘Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2) zoomed in of view of the wheel CLEP/CNSA
Yutu will rove within Von Kármán crater analyzing the composition of the lunar surface with a Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS).
The Yutu 2 also has two additional science payloads.
- Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR)
- Advanced Small Analyser for Neutrals (ASAN),
ASAN was developed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna to provide insight into the lunar subsurface. Information is expected to be learned about the subsurface to a depths of hundreds of meters.
Since the Chinese spacecraft are powered on solar energy, both the lander and the rover of China’s Chang’e-4 probe have been put into sleep mode concluding the 16th successful lunar day according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. Both spacecraft power down during the roughly 2-week darkness where temperatures plummet to -173 degrees Celsius. Typically spacecraft use heaters to stay warm enough to avoid damage. During portions of the daytime, the craft also need to power down to avoid damage to scientific instruments from the intense rays from the Sun.
China’s Chang’e-4 probe along with YuTu-2 were launched on Dec. 8, 2018, and made history when it made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3, 2019. In Chinese folklore, the Jade Rabbit often is a companion of the Moon goddess Chang’e.
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