China's Yutu 2 rover is about to "wake up" on the far side of the Moon, after enduring another freezing night. The vehicle has already traveled more than 700 meters since arriving there a little over two years ago.
On January 3, 2019, China made history by delivering the first smooth rover to the "far side of the Moon" as part of its Chang'e- 4. The lander and its rover, dubbed Yutu 2, landed inside Von Karman Crater, a formation found in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest impact crater in the Solar System.
Both machines entered a "dormant state" on April 19 just before sunset, wiping temperatures as low as minus 180 degrees Celsius. The rover and its lander will wake up from hibernation a few days after our star rises over Von Kármán Crater.
Since arriving, Yutu 2 has been heading northwest from its landing spot. It has traveled a total of 708.9 meters so far, relying on its panoramic cameras, Lunar Penetration Radar (LPR), and visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer to collect data.
The six-wheeled vehicle, which weighs only 140 kilos, has already isolated a number of distinct layers of rock below the lunar surface that may have been created by volcanism and asteroid impacts.
Yutu 2, which has already far exceeded its design life of 90 Earth days, also recently came across a strange small stone with a very elongated shape and geologically very young.
According to the researchers, it could be an impact ejecta from the nearby Finsen crater, rather than just exposed rock. The mission team plans to analyze it further with the rover's Visible and Near Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS), which detects light scattered or reflected off materials to reveal their composition. This data will allow to probe its origin.
Then the rover will continue its journey north -is. The objective will be to identify basalt rock, the analyzes of which could provide a better understanding of the history of the local lunar surface.
Finally, let's remember that Yutu 2 is not the only Chinese rover to progress. In a few days, the Zhurong rover, which is part of the country's first interplanetary expedition, will indeed attempt to land on Mars in a vast rocky plain called Utopia Planitia. If successful, China will be only the second country to land softly on Mars after the United States.
