There is a mysterious face of the moon always invisible to those on Earth. Science has long been left in the dark about this far side of the moon. But all this is about to change following China’s landmark Chang’e 4 lander and Yutu 2 rover moon mission – the first-ever to explore of the moon’s far side.
China’s Chang’e 4 lander and Yutu 2 rover have captured new images on their hugely successful mission to explore the far side of the moon as the duo looks to extend their study to a fifth lunar day.
On the moon, the cycle of day and night is nearly 30 Earth-days in total.
The latest batch of photographs taken the Yutu 2 offer a timely update to the mission’s journey since the first round of pictures were released marking its arrival on the Von Kármán Crater at the start of the year.
This is an enormous crater which resides at the very most southern tip of the moon.
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And the basin is believed to be the largest known impact basin in the solar system.
Objectives of the lander and rover mission include analysing chemical differences between the Earth-facing side of the moon and the mission’s target area.
No hard science from the Chang’e 4’s mission has yet been released, but scientists involved with the project said the surveyed area shows “potential evidence of excavated deep mafic material, which could reveal the mineralogy of the lunar mantle.”
The Chang’e 4 moon mission has already greatly exceeded expectations, as the Chinese spacecraft was only expected to survive the moon’s brutal conditions for three lunar days.
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Both the lander and rover are currently in hibernation mode, resting during a lunar night.
But on April 28, when another two-week day dawns on the far side of the moon, both would be going on their fifth lunar day.
Because of the daytime’s extreme temperatures which exceed 200 Celsius (390 Fahrenheit), the rover is also required to take brief periods of hibernation, until it can continue moving.
Even despite the hazards and obstacles of exploring the far side of the moon, Yutu 2 has travelled just under 180 meters during its one-month stay.
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Space scientists are analysing data collected from the moon mission and plan to publish results in a month’s time.
The mission will also illuminate scientists understanding about the makeup of our early solar system.
Craters studied by the rover were created by an ancient impact where layers of the moon’s mantle are exposed, where they can be studied to determine its contents and more.