The Chang’e 4 lander and its rover are still functioning well despite the harsh conditions in the Moon’s dark side.
The Chang’e 4 lander carrying the Yutu-2 rover landed in the Von Kármán crater on January 2, 2019. Since then, the duo has been exploring the Moon’s dark side autonomously. Both machines celebrated 1,000 days on the Moon as of September 28. The Yutu-2 rover has traveled a total of 839.37 meters and collected 3,632.01 gigabytes of data.
Yutu-2 rover captured from the Chang’e 4 lander. (Photo: CNSA).
Together, the Chang’e 4 lander and the Yutu-2 rover have sent back numerous images and panoramic views of the Moon’s dark side, revealing secrets beneath the surface, measuring radiation levels that astronauts would face, and appearing within the observation range of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The Yutu-2 has set a record for the longest operational time on the Moon’s surface for a rover, breaking the previous record of 321 days set by the Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 1. Currently, Yutu-2 is heading towards a distant basalt area, but it may take years for the machine to reach its new destination.
Despite continuously facing frigid temperatures and scorching heat between day and night on the Moon, solar radiation, and the erosion of the surface layer, the Chang’e 4 lander and the Yutu-2 rover continue to operate well, according to the China Lunar Exploration Program. The lander operates on solar power and typically goes inactive at night on the Moon, with each night lasting about 14.5 Earth days.
The Queqiao satellite, which helps Chang’e 4 communicate with Earth, is also in good condition. This data relay satellite, launched in 2018, is in orbit where it can observe both the Moon’s dark side and Earth at all times. Queqiao is responsible for transmitting data and control commands between the lander and the mission control center since the Moon’s dark side never faces Earth.
Initially, the Chang’e 4 lander was constructed as a backup for the Chang’e 3 lander. Chang’e 4 transitioned to more complex tasks after Chang’e 3 successfully landed on the Moon in 2013. The first Yutu rover could not continue after two days on the Moon due to a short circuit. The Yutu-2 was redesigned to prevent debris from damaging its electrical systems and to enhance durability.
China launched its first mission to collect lunar samples at the end of 2020. The Chang’e 5 spacecraft successfully returned 1,731 kilograms of samples to Earth last December. The Chang’e 6 mission is set to launch in 2024 to collect samples from the Moon’s dark side.
