China's Yutu-2 rover has traveled 1,613 meters on the mysterious far side of the moon as of Tuesday and sent home latest images that showed the lunar surface's diverse features.
Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2 is part of the Chang'e-4 probe that landed on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan 3, 2019. The rover has completed its work for the 71st lunar day, marking nearly five years and nine months of operation—far beyond its original 3-month design lifespan. It is currently the longest-working lunar rover in history.
One of the photos beamed back to Earth on Sept 10 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 a 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.
China's lunar rover sends home latest images on moon's far side
