Jason Davis • Jan 03, 2019
Chang'e-4 deploys rover on far side of the Moon
News brief
Following an historic first landing on the far side of the Moon earlier today, China's Chang'e-4 spacecraft is already hard at work. The lander's first order of business was deploying its rover, which is named Yutu-2, China's space agency announced. The rover rolled down its ramp at 14:22 UTC to begin exploring Von Kármán crater.
Here's one of Yutu-2's six wheels on the Chang'e-4 lander prior to deployment:
And an image of the landing site:
A close-up from the descent camera:
And some very happy technicians:
We're also tracking updates on the landing location. Here's a thread at nasaspaceflight.com, and an update from an LRO scientist:
Looks like Change-4 landed near 45.47084 South, 177.60563 East Quickmap view at: https://t.co/Vqce86qB5Z
— Noah Petro (@nepetro) January 3, 2019