The Chinese moon rover captured images of the distant part of the moon, which shows an elongated “landmark” rock on the lunar surface.
Yutu 2 saw the sharp structure coming out of the ground after waking from a 14-day sleep on the dangerous moonlit cold night.
Scientists believe that the unusual rock could have formed after numerous impacts threw the rock off the surface until the sharp formation was left.
However, further analysis is needed to determine its exact origin, and the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) intends to use the rover’s imaging capabilities to test its composition.
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The Chinese moon rover captured images of the distant part of the moon, which shows an elongated “landmark” rock on the lunar surface. Yutu 2 saw the sharp structure coming out of the ground after waking from a 14-day sleep during the dangerous lunar night of cold
Chang’e-4 in China hit the moon in January 2019 and was the first to land on the far side of the moon.
Along the way is the Yutu 2 lander and rover, which have since transmitted images behind the lunar surface that people have never seen before.
The objectives of the lander and rover include the analysis of the chemical differences between the lunar part facing the Earth and the target area of the mission.
The Chang’e-4 lander and the Yutu 2 router recently spent 14 days hibernating in the long lunar night to protect against the mechanisms of frost – temperatures can reach -310 degrees Fahrenheit.
Scientists believe that the unusual rock could have formed after numerous impacts threw the rock off the surface until the sharp formation was left.
However, further analysis is needed to determine its exact origins, and the China National Administration (CNSA) intends to use the rover’s imaging capabilities to test its composition.
After returning on February 6, the rover continued its activity of exploring the distant part and then saw the unusual stalagmite.
CNSA has not yet revealed measurements of the rock, but intends to analyze it with the Yutu 2 Visible and Near Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) instrument, hoping to discover its composition and size.
Dan Moriarty, a member of NASA’s Postdoctoral Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told Space.com: “Repeated impacts, heat stress and other forms of weather on the lunar surface would tend to decompose rocks. in more -or less “spherical” shapes, having enough time. ”
Moriarty also told Space.com that, looking at the sharp shape of the rock and the pronounced “ridge” that runs along the edge, it is speculated that the rock is young geologically.
He also believes that the milestone was created by washing, which occurs when “intact fragments of rock are blown from the nearby surface without experiencing the same degree of shock pressures that the immediate target suffers.” .
The Chang’e-4 lander and the Yutu 2 router recently spent 14 days hibernating in the long lunar night to protect against the mechanisms of frost – temperatures can reach -310 degrees Fahrenheit. After returning on February 6, the rover continued its exploration of the far side and then saw the unusual stalagmite.
The rover has traveled 2060 feet on the lunar surface since landing on January 3, 2019.
China’s space agency launched a gallery of images captured by the rover in January 2020 to mark the one-year anniversary of the ship’s first arrival on the moon.
Doug Ellison, who leads NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover camera engineering team, processed the images and posted them on Twitter.
An image of the lunar landfill Chang’e-4 with the immaculate traces of the Yutu 2 rover was brought to life in color using sophisticated computer software.
The images were taken by the Chang’e-4 lander field camera and the panoramic camera on the Yutu 2 router.
The data warehouse measured more than 10 GB and includes images taken in the first year of operation.
The rover has traveled 2060 feet on the lunar surface since landing on January 3, 2019
China’s space agency launched a gallery of images captured by the rover in January 2020 to mark the one-year anniversary of the ship’s first arrival on the moon. In the picture is the traces of the rover on the lunar surface and in the distance is the lander
The images were sent back in what appears to be black and white, but are actually incomplete color images.
Computer programs can be used to extract true coloring.
Some of the images show views of the Von Karmer crater in which the mission landed.
It is the largest impact crater in the entire solar system, at a depth of 13 km and a diameter of 2,500 km.
The far side of the moon – colloquially known as the dark side – actually becomes as much light as the near side, but it is always heading towards Earth.
This is because the moon is blocked in an orderly fashion by the Earth, rotating at the same speed as our planet orbits, so that the far side – or “dark side” – is never visible from our planet.
The Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission – named after the goddess of the month in Chinese mythology – was launched in December last year from the southwestern Xichang launch center.
It is the second Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon, following the 2013 Yutu rover mission.