The other side of the moon is covered with sticky soil and craters.

Yutu-2 image from the Chang'e-4 lander.

Chinese lunar module Yuto-2 It has been exploring the far side of the moon for 3 years, making it the longest lunar mission in history. In a study published in robotics scienceThe Yutu-2 team reports on the rover’s progress and what it has revealed so far about the far side of the Moon.

Yutu-2 landed on the moon in January 2019 as part of Chang’e-4 مهمة mission, the first to land on his face hidden the moon. The objectives of the mission are to study the formation of basalt rocks on the far side He compared these igneous rocks with rocks on the near side of the moon. Since landing, the probe has traveled about 1,000 metres, analyzing the geology of our nearest celestial neighbor along the way.

The far side of the moon, as seen by the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.

The new paper documents the rover’s kinematic capabilities (as evidenced by its surface flight so far), as well as scientific work during the rover’s first two years on the moon. In fact, two important points intersect: One of the results of the recent study is that the hidden face The moon’s surface has soil that appears to be a little more viscous than soil on the near side. The researchers discovered this because masses of lunar soil clung to the wheels of Yutu-2, indicating that the surface of the far side is more compact and muddy than the near side.

Yutu-2 also found many craters that were relatively small. Of the 88 holes the team documented in the study, 57 were less than 10 meters wide, and only 2 were more than 60 meters wide. Some of these smaller craters, based on their location and size, are thought to be secondary craters in Zenio Crater larger that the craft landed near, rather than individual impacts.

There are more craters on the far side of the Moon than on the near side, but that’s not because it requires more strikes. Instead, this is the face close I’ve seen more volcanic activity, which basically swept the excavation.

Recent research is just the latest update on this interesting one rover. Just a few months after Yutu-2 was published, data The rover revealed that material from the Moon’s mantle was deposited on the surface of the far side of the natural satellite. The rover’s latest achievement was to visit what from afar looked like a “mysterious structure” but, of course, turned out to be just a rock.

Yutu-2’s futuristic visions can now be compared to moon rocks Brought to Earth for the Chang’e-5 mission, the successor to the one that brought this rover to the Moon.

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