Officially the first ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, Chinese lunar module Chang’e 4 has landed within the 186 kilometres (115 miles) wide Von Kármán crater.
Landed on the moon’s oldest impact zone in order to study the age and chemical composition of the crater, Change’ 4’s mission is to conduct biological experiments as well as characterize the surface of Von Kármán. Radio astronomy observations will also be conducted.
Due to Chang’e 4 being located on the far side of the moon, signals are unable to be sent to and fro Earth. By utilizing a satellite called Queqiao positioned at a gravitationally stable spot called Earth-moon L2 orbit, signals from Chang’e 4 will be sent to the satellite to be relayed back to Earth.
Equipped with a Landing Camera, Terrain Camera, Low-Frequency Spectrometer, Lunar Lander Neutrons and a Dosimetry, the Chang’e 4 lander also houses silkworms, potatoes cotton, rapeseed, potato, fruit fly, yeast and Arabidopsis plants that will be tracked as they develop.
There is also a land rover called Yutu 2 on board Chang’e 4. Fitted with a Panoramic Camera, Lunar Penetrating Radar, Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, and an Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals, the rover has driven off a ramp of Chang’e 4 roughly 12 hours after touchdown.
“A small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation,” said Lunar project chief designer Wu Weiren.
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