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The Yutu 2 rover on the surface of the moon. (Provided to China Daily)
China’s Yutu 2 rover operated on the lunar surface for 692 Earth days, solidifying its status as the second functioning rover on the moon, China’s National Space Administration said.
China’s second lunar rover, Yutu 2, is part of the ongoing Chang’e 4 mission, humanity’s first attempt to land and closely observe the far side of the moon. The rover has traveled nearly 590 meters since it was deployed on January 3 last year.
The administration said the Chang’e 4 lander and rover have finished their 24th lunar day work session and are now in a dormant state for the lunar night.
One lunar day equals 14 days on Earth, as well as one lunar night. During the lunar night, the temperature drops below -180 ° C and there is no sunlight to supply power to the probe.
During the last lunar day, which began on November 9, Yutu 2 continued to move northwest of the Chang’e 4 landing site in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest and deepest known basins in the solar system. .
The four scientific apparatuses mounted on the vehicle – a panoramic camera, a penetrating lunar radar, a spectrometer for visible and near-infrared images and the Advanced Small Analyzer for neutrals developed in Sweden – have been activated to conduct scientific investigations.
Their findings during the working session will be used to help scientists reveal the origins of the substances under the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the space administration said.
Designed and built by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, Yutu 2 has six wheels, two solar panels and a radar dish and weighs 140 kilograms.
The record for the longest-lived rover on the moon is held by Yutu, China’s first lunar rover, which worked on the moon for 972 days, far exceeding its expected three-month lifespan.
It was deployed by the Chang’e 3 probe lander, the first Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon, in December 2013. Several scientific devices on the lander are still producing data after more than 2,500 days on the near side of the moon, the space administration.
Yutu broke the previous record for the longest operational lunar rover – 321 Earth days – which was held for over 43 years by the former Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 1. It was carried by the Luna 17 probe and landed on the moon on November 17, 1970.
The robotic vehicle operated on the lunar surface for 11 lunar days and traveled a total distance of 10.5 kilometers before ceasing operations on October 4, 1971.
In ancient Chinese mythology, Yutu is the white pet rabbit of the moon goddess Chang’e.
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