China’s lunar rover has sent back a new image from the dark side of the moon, showcasing its three-year-long journey on our planet’s satellite.
The images were released by Ourspace — a Chinese language science outreach channel affiliated with the China National Space Administration in late February (highlighted by Space.com). One of the images includes a wide panoramic view of the moon with Yutu-2’s tyre marks.
This image also shows Chang’e 4’s lander in the far distance which touched down on January 2019, which also claimed the spot of the first spacecraft to land and operate on the moon’s hidden hemisphere.
Since its landing, Yutu-2 has travelled over a kilometre across the Von Karman crater as per the new data from China’s Lunar Exploration Ground Application System.
Last month, the rover had spotted two intact spheres of translucent glass which was around an inch thick on the far side of the moon. To the unaware, these are common phenomena on the moon.
Essentially glass forms when the silicate material on the lunar surface is subjected to high temperatures. This normally occurs due to heat generated from impacts by meteorites on the lunar surface. They’re normally less than 0.03 of an inch in diameter.
Yutu 2 also recently visited the crater rim to look at the mysterious hut-like structure which actually turned out to be a rabbit-shaped rock.
Source: Indiatimes
