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Mission Change 4 is a robotic spacecraft, part of the second phase of China’s lunar exploration program. Photo/CNSA/Space
With the help of the Queqiao repeater satellite (Magpie Bridge), the Yutu-2 rover (Jade Rabbit-2) and the Chang’e-4 lander photographed each other. National Space Agency China (China National Space Administration/CNSA) said that the scientific instruments on board are functioning properly and that the images and detection data have been sent to ground control.
One of the images that CNSA released is a 360-degree panorama, which was pieced together from 80 photos taken by the camera on the lander. “From the panorama, we can see that the vehicle is surrounded by many small craters. It was really exciting,” said Li Chunlai, deputy director of China’s National Astronomical Observatories and commander in chief of Chang’e-4 ground application systems. .
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The communications satellite, Queqiao, was first launched into a halo orbit near the Earth-Moon L2 point in May 2018. The Yutu-2 lander and rover was launched on December 7, 2018 and entered the lunar orbit on December 12, 2018, before landing on the far side of the Moon.
“Congratulatory messages sent by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission praised the Chang’e-4 mission as an outstanding achievement in China’s space program. This marks an important step for China to become a strong country in space exploration,” the CNSA page wrote.
The Chang’e 4 mission is the sequel to the Chang’e 3 mission, China’s first moon landing in 2013. The robot is named Chang’e, after the Chinese goddess of the moon, and Yutu 2, which means Jade Rabbit, is the pet rabbit of the goddess Chang ‘e.
The Chang’e-4 mission performs scientific tasks, including low-frequency radio astronomy observations, surveying terrain and landscapes, surveying the mineral composition and surface structure of the moon, and measuring neutron and neutral atom radiation .
Read also; Through the Chang’e-5 spacecraft, China wants to unravel the mystery of the Moon
The Chang’e-4 mission embodies China’s desire to incorporate human wisdom into space exploration, with four payloads being developed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Saudi Arabia.
The Chang’e 4 lander carrying the Yutu 2 rover reached the milestone of more than 1,000 operational days on Sept. 28, 2021. Both spacecraft provided breathtaking images and panoramas of the far side of the moon.
They discovered secrets from beneath the moon’s surface and measured the amount of radiation astronauts would be exposed to. “The Yutu 2 rover covered a total distance of 839.37 meters to the Moon and acquired 3,632.01 gigabytes of data during its journey,” Chinese officials said on the Space page on Oct. 7, 2021.
China then launched a lunar sample return mission in late 2020. The first mission was flown from Chang’e 5 and successfully delivered 1,731 kilograms of fresh lunar samples to Earth in December 2020.
(wib)
