(Photo: CNSA)
The team of the Chinese mission Chang'e-4 has published new photographs of the surface of the far side of the moon
The pictures were obtained by the lunar rover Yutu-2, and they include a circular panorama and a three-dimensional image of the surrounding area.
The lunar rover has traveled several hundred meters on the surface of the Earth's satellite and has worked for almost two years, although initially its service life was estimated at three months.
Chang'e-4 was the first ever lander to make a soft landing on the far side of the moon.
The platform delivered the lunar rover Yutu-2 to the huge ancient crater Von Kármán, the devices maintain communication with the Earth using the satellite-relay Queqiao.
Their tasks include the study of both the surface of the Moon and regolith, and the subsurface layer.
The rover also has a biological experiment that was previously carried out on board the platform, during which a plant germinated on the Moon for the first time.
On November 10, Yutu-2 and Chang'e-4 returned to work, having survived another moonlit night.
At present, they have been operating for 688 Earth days, which is a record among automatic lunar vehicles.
During the 24 lunar days, the rover will move to the northwest, exploring basalt rocks and impact craters.
The Yutu-2 team has published new images taken by the rover, including a 360-degree panorama, as well as a three-dimensional image of the surrounding area, which was built on the basis of the obtained images.
(Photo: CNSA)
It is expected that such three-dimensional maps will help to better plan the further route of the vehicle.
During its operation, the platform and the lunar rover transmitted to Earth many images of the lunar surface.
Yutu-2 discovered particles of the lunar mantle at the bottom of the Karman crater and determined the structure of the subsurface layer at the landing site, in particular, it turned out that the upper layer is a substance ejected from the nearby impact crater Finsen.
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