China's Yutu-2 Lunar Rover Sends Home Latest Images of Moon's Far Side

China's Yutu-2 Lunar Rover Sends Home Latest Images of Moon's Far Side

After its arrival on January 3, 2019, China's Yutu-2 rover has traveled 1,613 meters on the mysterious far side of the Moon as of Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Yutu-2 or Jade Rabbit-2 has sent home the latest images showing diverse features on the lunar surface.

China's Yutu-2 lunar rover has been working on the far side of the Moon for nearly five years and nine months as part of the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). Yutu-2 is currently operational as humanity's longest-lived lunar rover and the first lunar rover traversing the far side of the Moon. This is well beyond its original 3-month design lifespan. 

Yutu-2 is the robotic lunar rover component of the China National Space Administration's Chang'e 4 Mission to the Moon, launched on December 7, 2018. Chang'e 4 soft landed in the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon on January 3, 2019.

Yutu-2 has a radioisotope heater unit to maintain its subsystems during long and cold lunar nights. Electrical power is generated by the rover's solar panels during daylight.

One of the photos beamed back to Earth on Sept 10, 2024, showed the rover left marks on the lunar surface that resembled a mooncake. Zuo Wei, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-4 mission's ground application system, believed this could symbolize the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important traditional holidays for Chinese people that falls on Tuesday this year. 

"I think maybe it's because the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and it wants to draw a mooncake pattern to echo the festive theme," she told CCTV. 

The collection of photos highlighted a variety of features of the Moon's surface, including flat areas, hills, impact craters and large rocks. 

In addition to Yutu-2, the Chang'e-3 probe and Chang'e-4 lander are also operational on the Moon. While some scientific instruments continue to function and transmit data, researchers are also evaluating their long-term operational capabilities. 

"The Moon-based optical telescope onboard Chang'e-3 lander is still operational, performing regular on-off cycles every month, though it is no longer conducting scientific observations. Chang'e-4 is also still active," said Zuo.

In addition, the country's Queqiao and Queqiao-2 relay satellites are working in the orbit around the Moon. Queqiao mainly provides Earth-Moon relay communications for Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2. After completing its mission for Chang'e-6, Queqiao-2 is currently conducting scientific observations in orbit while awaiting the arrival of Chang'e-7, scheduled for launch around 2026.

Direct communication with Earth is impossible on the far side of the Moon, since transmissions are blocked by the Moon. Communications must pass through a communications relay satellite, placed at a location that has a clear view of a landing site and the Earth.

Video Credit: CCTV

Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 17, 2024

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