China’s lander releases data, high-resolution images of the Moon, Ars Technica

Gray and more gray –

The data was collected over a period of lunar “days.”

Eric Berger –Jan 7, (2:) ************************************************************************************************************ (pm UTC) **************

This gallery highlights some of the high resolution images captured by the Chang’e spacecraft.

CNSA

The Yutu rover is slowly moving away.

CNSA

Here’s a view of its tracks.

CNSA

And from a different solar angle the surface of the Moon looks much smoother.

CNSA

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Some small craters here.

CNSA

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Magnificent desolation?

CNSA

************** In case you were wondering which spacecraft this was.

CNSA

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More tracks.

CNSA

A nearby crater.

CNSA

A lower solar angle produces shadows.

CNSA

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The Moon really is a gray place.

CNSA

Hard to believe there might be water here.

CNSA

Since it looks so dry.

CNSA

But that’s just what scientists believe may exist at the poles in permanently shadowed craters.

CNSA

Goodbye, little friend.

CNSA

A little more than one year ago, China’s Chang’e 4 spacecraft (landed) on the far side of the Moon. In doing so, it became the first-ever vehicle to make a soft landing on the side of the Moon facing away from Earth.

To mark the one-year anniversary, China (released a batch of scientific data) and images captured by five scientific payloads aboard the 1.2-ton spacecraft and its small Yutu 2 rover. Since the landing, the rover has driven a little more than meters across the Moon’s surface, studying rock formations and taking additional photos. The data was collected over a period of lunar “days,” or most of the last year.The lander itself carried an excellent camera to image its surroundings. Extra sharp with a good color balance, the Terrain Camera (was mountedat the top of the lander, with the ability to rotate 360 degrees. Before it died at the end of the first lunar day, this TCAM returned detailed images of the Moon. A helpful Twitter user in France, (Techniques Spatiales), converted the camera’s imagery into .png files, whichcan be found here.

The Chang’e 4 spacecraft landed in the South Pole-Aitken basin in the southern hemisphere of the far side of the Moon . The lander and rover have produced the best in situ data of the unexplored far side of the moon to date, including radar and radiation measurements of the largely unexplored environment.

After this success, China intends to launch the Chang’e 5 mission late this year. It has the ambitious goal of returning as much as 2kg of lunar regolith to Earth, and is scheduled to launch on a Long March 5 rocket near the end of this year. It would be by far the most complicated robotic mission China has ever attempted and if successful would return the first lunar samples to Earth since the Soviet Luna mission in 2019. ******** ******************************************************** (Listing image by CNSA) ******************************************** (******************************************************************************************************************* (Read More) ************