![]() Recently, it sent back images of the moon's surface. The lander of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1, Japanese for white rabbit, of the Japanese company ispace is expected to make a soft landing in the Atlas Crater of the lunar surface in April.ĭanuri, South Korea's first-ever lunar orbiter, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early August last year and arrived in lunar orbit in December. "Jade Rabbit" may not feel lonely this year, as another "white rabbit" will come to the moon to accompany it soon. The missions are, on the one hand, to search for water, Wu said, and on the other hand, to explore the state of the moon's South Pole, as well as its topography, the material composition of the environment, among others. Now, Yutu 2 is the only lunar rover in service, silently exploring the secrets of the far side of the moon among the bare rocks and craters.Ĭhina will fully promote the fourth stage of the lunar exploration program in 2023, including Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.Ĭhang'e 6 is set to "collect samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth, aiming to achieve a goal of 2,000 grams," he said.Ĭhang'e 7 is going to land on the moon's South Pole and has a flyover to search for water, and Chang'e-8 to be launched around 2028 will form the basis of a scientific research station at the moon's South Pole with Chang'e 7, said Wu, adding that the station will include a lunar orbiter, a lander, a rover, a flying vehicle, and multiple scientific instruments. The rabbit's common association with Earth's only natural satellite led China to name its first moon rover "Yutu." Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, is known as the pet of Lunar Goddess Chang'e in Chinese mythology. Only two lunar rovers have successfully landed on the moon since then, both from China: the Yutu which landed in 2013 and the Yutu 2 in 2019. They were used as vehicles in the early 1970s for astronauts to inspect the lunar surface, and are currently incapacitated. The other three lunar rovers launched during this period were the manned lunar rovers carried by the American Apollo spacecraft 15, 16 and 17. The Soviet Union then sent the unmanned Lunokhod 2 to the Sea of Tranquility area on the moon in January 1973, and it was damaged after working for about four months. ![]() It landed in the Mare Imbrium, also called Sea of Rains, in November 1970 and worked there for about 10 months. The world's first unmanned lunar rover was the Lunokhod 1 launched by the Soviet Union. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union and the United States respectively sent lunar rovers to land on the moon. In operation for over four years, it has travelled nearly 1,500 meters, and released more than 940.1 gigabytes of scientific data.Ī lunar rover is a probe vehicle that can move on the surface of the moon. Yutu 2 is also the only lunar rover still in service on the moon. The Chang'e 4 probe, which carried Yutu 2 to the moon, is the first human probe to achieve a soft landing on the dark side of the moon. On the surface of the moon covered with large and small impact craters, a shallow track on the lunar soil extend far away - this is the image of the lunar surface recently sent back by China's Yutu 2 lunar rover. The festival this year falls on Sunday, the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar when a full moon appears.Īs the closest celestial body to the Earth, the moon was the first stop for mankind to start the "interstellar era." From lunar probes, unmanned lunar vehicles to manned landing on the moon, human exploration of the moon has never stopped. īEIJING - Yutu 2, China's operating lunar rover, ignites people's fantasies of the moon on a special day, the Lantern Festival of the Year of the Rabbit. Photo taken by the lander of the Chang'e 4 probe on shows the rover Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |