The Chang’e-4 probe, from China’s National Space Administration, sent ashore the first images of the “hidden face” of the Moon, a site unexplored to date by man.
The photographs were taken by the probe after the moon landing and through the Space Engineering and Lunar Exploration Center they proved that China has, for the first time in history, landed a ship on the hidden side of the Moon.
According to China, the unmanned spacecraft had already entered elliptical lunar orbit last Sunday, but the right moment had to be awaited to capture the first images.
“The unseen part of the star has day and night periods that last about 14 Earth days and sunlight was needed for both the moon landing module and the mobile exploration vehicle to work as planned,” they explained.
This is a new milestone in space exploration and the Chinese press stresses that the mission is a “historic step” that will allow scientists to explore the lesser known side of our natural satellite .
In addition, they will experiment with living organisms such as potato seeds and silkworm cocoons, which they will use to seek to form a lunar mini biosphere, an experiment that was designed in collaboration with 28 Chinese universities.
Space programs, such as the Soviet or the American, already achieved more than half a century ago photographing the hidden side of the Moon, but never landed there, although in 1962 a US unmanned mission tried unsuccessfully.
The space mission also has a spectrometer that will allow studying solar radiation and, together with an instrument on board the Quequiao satellite, it can work as a radio telescope.
The hidden side of the Moon is ideal for radio astronomy explorations, because the body of the Moon blocks the noise of the Earth’s ionosphere and human radio transmissions, explains an article from BBC.
The name given “hidden face” of the Moon is attributed because it is largely unknown. In fact, it can never be seen from Earth. However, it is known to be radically different from the visible face and is covered with craters.
The “hidden face” can never be seen from Earth due to a phenomenon known as “synchronous rotation”, since our natural satellite takes as long to turn on its own axis as in completing an Earth orbit.
YUTU-2’S WHEELS, PRE-DEPLOYMENT
The wheels of Yutu-2 went on the deployment ramp and onto the lunar surface. The rover touched and rolled on the surface at 14:22 on 3 January 2019.
Chang’e 4 landed on a flat surface of about 200 kilometers (km) from a crater called Von Kárman, which is in turn in a large basin, the Aitken Depression.
“This gigantic depression is about 2,500 km in diameter and 13 km deep. It is the product of one of the largest impacts in the Solar System. It is believed that the shock that created that great depression was so powerful that it pierced the crust of the Moon to the mantle,” Andrew Coates, a professor of physics at University College London, told the BBC.
YUTU-2 With All 6 Wheels On The Moon Ready To Roll!
The Chang’e-4 program, named in honor of a goddess who, according to Chinese legends, lives on the Moon, began with the launch of the first orbital probe in 2007, and since then four Earth satellites have been launched.
The long-term objective of the program is a manned mission to the Moon, although no date has been set for it and some experts do not consider it possible before the year 2036.
