China ’s mission explore the lunar far side has now go in into its seventh lunar day , with the Chang’3 lander and Yutu 2 rover resuming activeness despite a recent communicating problem with a relay planet .
The lander and rover successfully awoke on June 27 after entering into hibernation mode back on June 9,reportsthe Chinese Academy of Sciences . The Chang’3 lander and Yutu 2 rover are both in “ normal working condition , ” according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration ( CNSA ) .
The mission has now entered into its 7th lunar day , with one lunar day being approximately tantamount to 14.5 days on Earth ( same for the lunar dark ) . The machine are put to sleep during lunar nights due to the absence of usable solar power and to protect their delicate component against the extreme frigidness . Temperatures on the surface at dark can drop to -190 Celsius ( -310 Fahrenheit ) .
The Yutu 2 rover looking back on its progress, with two of its wheels visible in the bottom corners.Image: (CNSA)
With work commencing for a 7th lunar 24-hour interval , the military mission continues to go past expectations ( itwasn’t planned to lastpast March 2019 ) . The foreign mission on the surface began on January 3 , 2019 , when Chang’e set ashore on the Von Karman Crater in a basinful near the lunar south rod . To escort , Yutu 2 , or Jade Rabbit , has deny 212 meters ( 696 understructure ) , accord to the CNSA . This is the first robotic mission to the Moon ’s far side , which never faces the Earth .
As Andrew Jonesreportsin SpaceNews , however , the get-go to the seventh lunar day was not without incident :
fit in to a ‘ Yutu-2 driving diary ’ published June 27 ( Chinese ) , the rover had suffered emergence during lunar day six which caused interference with communications between the Yutu-2 scouter and the Queqiao ( “ Magpie Bridge ” ) relay artificial satellite , stationed around the second Earth - moon Lagrange point to facilitate communications between ground stations and the spacecraft on the far side of the moonshine , which never confront the ground .
A shot of the lunar surface taken by the Yutu 2 rover, with its solar panels visible.Image: (CNSA)
The government issue meant a personnel casualty of telemetry and inter-group communication with Yutu-2 . depth psychology point an error triggered by a cosmic shaft strike a rover micro chip and the issuance was dissolve successfully , according to the article , adding that the incident was a reminder that the distance environs is complex and variable .
As Jones aright pointed out , this is not the first metre that cosmic re — showers of tight - affect gamey - zip particles — have cause a concern during blank space missionary station . Cosmic rays also createdproblems during the Dawn missionto asteroid Ceres and Vesta .
Recentimagescaptured by NASA ’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ( LRO ) also point to the commission ’s ongoing progress . This satellite passes over the Chang’e mission web site about once a month , snapping photos as it zoom along overhead . Using these images , Mark Robinson , the LROC principal research worker at Arizona State University , estimated that Yutu 2 has travelled 186 meters ( 610 foundation ) in total , which is about 26 meter timid of the reported Chinese total . This discrepancy is in all probability excuse by work action by the rover before it figure hibernation mode , six days after the photo was taken .
The bright object at center is Chang’e lander and the dark object indicated at left is the Yutu 2 rover. This image was taken by LROC on 5 May 2025.Image: (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)
During its most recent pass on June 3 , the LRO snapped a seraphic picture ( above ) of the lunar surface and the lander itself , with its four solar panels reflect quite brilliantly .
“ Progress over the preceding two months has been slower than in previous months,”wroteRobinson at the LROC site . “ Perhaps the wanderer has found some interesting geology and is linger to collect a comprehensive solidification of measurements . ”
advancement may be slower than before , but it ’s still progress . This commission has already produced some useful science , including the find ofmantle materialon the lunar far side . For as long as the mission continues , Chang’e will continue to perform its mandated job , including downcast - frequency wireless observations of the sky , survey of the terrain , mensuration of neutron radiation , and analysis of the mineral composition of the open .
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