US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — The rover and the lander module of the Chang’e-4 Chinese automatic interplanetary station, which landed last January in the von Karman crater on the dark side of the Earth’s satellite, left their hibernation and resumed work.
This was reported by Xinhua News Agency with reference to the National Space Administration of China.
It is specified that the Yutu-2 lunar rover “woke up” on March 18, at 07:30 a.m. Beijing time, and the descent vehicle – after 12 hours and eight minutes.
The performance of both devices is normal, the working condition is excellent. “Yutu-2” and “Chang’e-4” interrupted their “sleep” on the 16th lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth, like night on a satellite.
Daylight hours on the moon – 29.5 days on our planet. Since there is no solar energy during a moonlit night, the devices periodically go into sleep mode.
According to further plans, the 140-pound Yutu-2 will continue to move from north to west on its six wheels, simultaneously exploring the geomorphology of the moon, probing the ground and taking surface images using panoramic cameras.
Meanwhile, a 1,200-pound lander will study the lunar medium.
Among the mission’s tasks are conducting low-frequency radio astronomy observations, studying the terrain, determining the mineral composition of the lunar surface, as well as measuring neutron radiation and analyzing neutral atoms.
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