The Yutu-2 is the rover of Chinese moon mission Chang’e 4, launched in 2019, to explore the dark side of the Moon.
Source: CGTN
The rover has traveled 1,613 meters so far, becoming the longest working rover on the moon.
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 January 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 three-month design lifespan.
One of the photos beamed back to Earth on September 10 showed the rover leaving marks on the lunar surface that resembled a mooncake. Zuo Wei, the deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-4 mission’s ground application system, said that 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.
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.
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.
Some recent images obtained by Yutu-2
The images are from the same news source.
