China’s lunar rover captured images of the other side of the moon showing an elongated ‘milestone’ rock on the lunar surface.
Yutu 2 notices the sharp structure protruding from the ground after waking up from a 14-day dormancy during a dangerously cold moon night.
Scientists believe that the unusual rock may have formed after numerous collisions of rock blown off the surface until the pointed formation was left behind.
However, further analysis is needed to determine its exact origin, and the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) plans to use the Rover’s imagery to investigate its composition.
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China’s lunar rover captured images of the other side of the moon showing an elongated ‘milestone’ rock on the lunar surface. Yutu 2 noticed the sharp structure protruding from the ground after waking up from a 14-day slumber during the dangerously cold moon night
China’s Chang’e-4 hit the moon in January 2019 and was the first one to ever land on the other side of the moon.
Along with the ride are the lander and the Yutu 2 rover, which has since radiated images of the lunar surface that people have never seen before.
The purpose of the lander and rover includes the analysis of chemical differences between the earth side of the moon and the target area of the mission.
The lander of Chang’e-4 and Yutu 2 recently slept 14 days in the winter month to protect the mechanisms from freezing – the temperature can reach -310 degrees Fahrenheit.
Scientists believe that the unusual rock may be formed after numerous collisions of rock blown off the surface until the pointed formation remains
However, further analysis is needed to determine its exact origin, and the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) plans to use the Rover’s imagery to investigate its composition.
After resuming operation on February 6, he continued exploring the other side, and this is when he spotted the unusual stalagmite.
CNSA has not yet released measurements of the rock, but plans to analyze it with Yutu 2’s tool Visible and Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) with the hope of discovering its composition and size.
Dan Moriarty, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told Space.com: ‘Repeated impacts, thermal cycling stress and other forms of weathering on the lunar surface will tend to break rocks into more -or fewer ‘spherical’ shapes, given enough time. ‘
Moriarty also told Space.com that if we look at the pointed shape of the rock and the pronounced ‘ridge’ that runs along the edge, it is speculated that the rock is geologically young.
He also believes the milestone was created by spallation, which occurs when ‘intact rock fragments are blown off the nearby surface without experiencing the same amount of shock pressure as the immediate target.’
The lander of Chang’e-4 and Yutu 2 recently slept 14 days in the winter month to protect the mechanisms from freezing – the temperature can reach -310 degrees Fahrenheit. After re-entering on February 6, he continued exploring the other side, and this is when he saw the unusual stalagmite
The rover has traveled 2060 feet across the lunar surface since landing on January 3, 2019.
In January 2020, the Chinese space agency released a gallery of images that the rover made to celebrate the one-year anniversary since the spacecraft first arrived on the moon.
Doug Ellison, who heads the engineering camera team for the Curiosity Mars Rover at NASA, edited the images and posted them on Twitter.
One image of the Chang’e 4 lunar lander with the impeccable tracks of the Yutu 2 rover was brought to life in color using sophisticated computer software.
The photos were taken by the Chang’e-4 lander terrain camera and the panoramic camera on the Yutu 2 rover.
The data dump measured more than 10 GB and contains images taken during the first year it was used.
The rover has traveled 2060 feet across the lunar surface since landing on January 3, 2019
In January 2020, the Chinese space agency released a gallery of images that the rover made to celebrate the one-year anniversary since the spacecraft first arrived on the moon. In the photo, the robber tracks are on the lunar surface and in the distance sits the lander
The images were returned in black and white, but these are actually incomplete color images.
Computer programs can be used to extract the true color.
Some of the images have a view of the Von Karmer crater in which the mission ended up.
It is the largest impact crater in the entire solar system with a depth of eight miles (13 km) and a diameter of 2,500 km.
The other side of the moon – commonly known as the dark side – actually gets as much light as the near side, but always looks away from the earth.
This is because the moon is tightly locked on the earth and rotates at the same rate as it orbits our planet.
The Chang’e 4 moon probe mission – named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology – was launched last December from the southwestern Xichang launch center.
This is the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu robbery in 2013.