Wake up sleepy head! China's Chang'e-4 probe awakens from its nap as the sun rises for the third tim

[beijingwalker]

Wake up sleepy head! China's Chang'e-4 probe awakens from its nap as the sun rises for the third time during its mission to the dark side of the moon

• Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2 have 'woken' from their third nap since their landing
• They were asleep for a lunar night which is 14 days on planet Earth
• During this time the lack of sunlight means temperatures can drop to -180°C
• The solar powered vehicles switched off during the second lunar night

By YUAN REN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 08:22 EST, 1 March 2019 | UPDATED: 08:42 EST, 1 March 2019

A probe sent by to the far side of the moon by China's space agency has reactivated after two weeks spent hibernating.

Chang'e-4, the moon lander, is back to work after 'sleeping' during the second lunar night, which is equivalent to 14 days on Earth.

The lander woke from its slumber a few hours before its companion rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) and both are once again operating as normal.

China's National Space Administration (CNSA) says it is now continuing their exploration of the lunar surface.

China's latest space shuttle mission to the far side of the moon has been reactivated after a two week hibernation. The lander Chang'e-4 is back to work after 'sleeping' during the second lunar night. Night time on the moon can be freezing and plunge as low as -180°C (-292°F)

China's lunar rover also got back to work on the far side of the moon after waking from a 14-day hibernation, a few hours after lander woke up in the morning. Both are operating normally, says China's space agency

China's space agency previous said the current mission 'lifted the mysterious veil' from the far side of the moon, which is never seen from Earth, and 'opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration'.

Because the space craft is solar powered, it has to switch off during a lunar night on the moon, during which there will be no sunlight.

The temperature on a lunar night is about -180°C (-292°F) and can get high during the day, where 'insulating' components like the gold coloured layers outside the lander and rover keep them cool.

There are variable heat conduction pipes, controllable two-phase electric fluidic circuits, etc. and they can control my temperature to under 55°C.

During the last lunar night, Yutu-2's Weibo post explained that during the machine will not actually turn off during the mid-day snooze. It will simply enter a standby mode.

In this form it will be charged up via solar panels, write a 'diary', send monitoring footage and provide readers with stories about the moon.

The post concluded: 'I didn't expect to take a break after working only for one day, but it's an important mission to protect oneself.

'Master, remember to wake me up early when the work starts again.'

Zhang Yuhua, deputy chief commander of the mission, told Chinese state media: 'After that, the rover will go to its planned area and start a series of scientific exploration projects in the Von Kármán crater as planned by scientists.'

A never-before-seen 'close range' image taken by the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e-4 of the surface of the far side of the moon. It appears to take on a reddish hue in some of the images released by China, an effect of the lights used by the probe

The rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...e-4-probe-awakens-time-mission-dark-moon.html

 

[beijingwalker]

A TIMELINE OF HOW CHINA REACHED THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON
October 24, 2007 - China launches Chang'e-1, an unmanned satellite, into space where it remains operational for more than a year.

October 1, 2010 - China launches Chang'e-2. This was part of the first phase of the Chinese moon programme. It was in a 100km-high lunar orbit to gather data for the upcoming Chang'e-3 mission.

September 29, 2011 - China launches Tiangong 1.

September 15, 2013 - A second space lab, Tiangong 2, is launched.

December 1, 2013 - Chang'e-3 launched.

December 14, 2013 - Chang'e-3, a 2,600 lb (1,200 kg) lunar probe lands on the near side of the moon successfully. It became the first object to soft-land on the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976.

April 1, 2018 - Tiangong-1 crashes to Earth at 17,000mph and lands in the ocean off the coast of Tahiti.

May 20, 2018 - China launches a relay satellite named Queqiao which is stationed in operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the Moon. This is designed to enable Chang'e-4 to communicate with engineers on Earth.

The Chang'e-4 lunar rover is lifted into space from the Xichang launch centre in China's southwestern Sichuan province on December 7

December 7, 2018 - Chinese space agency announces it has launched the Chang'e-4 probe.

December 12, 2018 - Retrorockets on the probe are fired to stabilise the spacecraft and slow it down.

December 31, 2018 - The probe prepares for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon.

January 4, 2019 - It lands the Chang'e-4 lander on the far side of the moon

Planned for 2020 - Tiangong 3,a follow-up mission to the Tiangong-2

Before 2033 - China plans for its first uncrewed Mars exploration program.

2040 - 2060 - The Asian superpower is planning a crewed mission to Mars.

Results of these experiments by the Chang'e-4 could lead to new understandings of the challenges faced by settlers who may one day colonise our natural satellite.

'It's a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation,' Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV.

'This giant leap is a decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the universe.'

The rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer.

The mission is formed of three basic parts - the rover, the lander and the relay satellite. They will work in unison to study, analyse and send information back to the scientists on Earth

Professor Crawford added: 'While operational, it will rove around studying the composition of rocks, and the sub-surface using its ground-penetrating radar.

'It will just be left on the Moon once it ceases to function, unless one day it is collected and brought back to a museum.'

The rover will use its panoramic camera to identify interesting locations and its Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) will help analyse minerals in the crater.

This includes what scientists call 'ejecta' - rocks that have churned up from deep to the surface from impacts meteors.

Its Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) instrument will take a look down into the depths of the moon with a maximum vertical distance of approximately 300 feet (100 metres).

The landing site on the Moon of space shuttle Chang'e-4 has also been officially named 'Statio Tianhe' or The Milky Way Base, at a Beijing conference today.

The landing site on the Moon of space shuttle Chang'e-4 has been officially named 'Statio Tianhe' or The Milky Way Base, at a Beijing conference today

The name, along with others for three craters and a peak nearby, were agreed by the China National Space Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Astronomical Union.

Naming landing locations on planets is common practice, led by the United States and the former Soviet Union on their lunar explorations.

The Chinese names allude to ancient folklore, with the term Tianhe meaning Milky Way, its literal translation being 'sky-river' in Mandarin.

The Latin 'Statio' which means base, is also part of the landing site name.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF CHINESE SPACE EXPLORATION?
Officials from the Chinese space agency have said the country will return to the moon by the end of 2019 with the Chang'e-5 mission.

This will collect rocks from the near side of the moon and return them to Earth for further study.

Chang'e-6 will be the first mission to explore the south pole of the moon.

Chang'e-7 will study the land surface, composition, space environment in a comprehensive mission, it was claimed, while Chang'e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis.

China is also reportedly working on building a lunar base using 3D printing technology.

Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for this as it strives to verify the technology earmarked for the project and if it is viable as a scientific base.

China's space agency the China National Space Administration (CNSA) also say they want to travel to mars by 2020.