360-degree panoramic photos taken by a camera installed on the top of the lander (Image by CNSA)
China's Chang'e-4 probe took panoramic photos on the lunar surface after it successfully made the first ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) Friday released the 360-degree panoramic photos taken by a camera installed on the top of the lander.
The images were sent back via the relay satellite Queqiao, which was operating around the second Lagrangian point of the earth-moon system, about 455,000 km from the earth, where it can see both the earth and the moon's far side.
Scientists have made a preliminary analysis on the terrains and landform surrounding the probe according to the panoramic pictures.
Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin in the morning of Jan. 3, and the lunar rover Yutu-2 drove onto the lunar surface late that night.
Then the rover took a "nap" as the solar radiation raised the temperature on the lunar surface to over 100 degrees centigrade. It restarted to work on Thursday.
The lander, the rover and the relay satellite are in good condition, said CNSA. (Xinhua)
A panoramic image of the far side of the moon sent from the Chang’e 4 lunar probe. [Photo provided by China National Space Administration]
China is planning to be the first country to land a lunar probe on the far side of the moon, a Chinese lunar probe scientist said Tuesday. The mission will be carried out by Chang'e-4, a backup probe for Chang'e-3, and is slated to be launched before 2020, said Zou Yongliao from the moon exploration department under the Chinese Academy of Sciences at a deep-space exploration forum Tuesday.
China will open its lunar exploration program to private enterprises in an attempt to boost technological innovation and break State-owned companies' monopoly in the space field, according to the country's top space authority. As a starting measure, private enterprises are being encouraged to take part in the Chang'e-4 lunar probe mission, according to a statement issued by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which oversees space programs.
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