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posted by takyon on Saturday January 12 2019, @07:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the 1:4:9 dept.

A panorama from the dark side of the moon is now available from China's Chang'e 4 Lander.

China made history earlier this month with the first successful soft landing on the far side of the moon — and now, the mission has sent back an incredible panorama view of its work site.

The image is available in hi-res here.

The mission consists of two robots: the Chang'e 4 lander and the Yutu 2 rover. Since their arrival on Jan. 2, both have been exploring the lunar surface inside Von Kármán Crater, a 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) feature

Putting this into units Soylentils are comfortable with, this is approximately 1049 Ice Hockey rinks across.

The Yutu 2 rover is visible not far away in the panorama, but is currently not active as it hibernates through the long Lunar day, during which temperatures can reach an electronics damaging 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).

High temperature electronics can be done, but presumably making them also function at low temperatures (-173 degrees Celsius at night) presents challenges that were not worth overcoming and the decision was made to survive one extreme and operate in the other.

Previously: China is About to Make Humankind's First Visit to the Far Side of the Moon
China's Chang'e 4 Spacecraft Lands on the Far Side of the Moon


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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @07:33PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @07:33PM (#785643)

    Where are all the stars, and why is it so bright on the supposed "dark side" of the moon?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:11PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:11PM (#785652)

      The shadow direction changes as you go from one side of the image to the other. In fact, the shadows actually disappear in the middle, except for a convenient shadow directly underneath the rover. These "magic" shadows cannot possible occur with a single light source such as the sun! It can only happen when there are multiple strong light sources such as the ones you find on on a film set.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:22PM (1 child)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:22PM (#785677) Journal

        That's exactly how one would expect them in a panorama.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @10:14PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @10:14PM (#785687)

          This collage is almost as panoramic and doesnt have those shadows: https://www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/1547309566359.jpg [zerohedge.com]

          They both look about the same length to me.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @07:58PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @07:58PM (#785649)

    Re-Start the space race in earnest by claiming:
    All these moon belong to us

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:01PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:01PM (#785650)

      All the Moons of Earth?

      • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:16PM (2 children)

        by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:16PM (#785671) Journal

        Possibly both the moons. [wikipedia.org]

        --
        "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Sunday January 13 2019, @12:57AM (1 child)

          by coolgopher (1157) on Sunday January 13 2019, @12:57AM (#785727)

          That's no moon...

          • (Score: 2) by arslan on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:03PM

            by arslan (3462) on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:03PM (#786043)

            That's right, it's your momma!

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:11PM (1 child)

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:11PM (#785653) Journal

    "Putting this into units Soylentils are comfortable with, this is approximately 1049 Ice Hockey rinks across."

    or maybe a Zamboni analogy? :)

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by richtopia on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:19PM (2 children)

    by richtopia (3160) on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:19PM (#785659) Homepage Journal

    Getting to the Moon is difficult even if you have done it before. The image looks awesome and I hope the mission is productive.

    • (Score: 2) by corey on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:37PM (1 child)

      by corey (2202) on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:37PM (#785662)

      Yeah, well done to the Chinese. Looks like a nice photo.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:05PM

        by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:05PM (#785949) Homepage
        I was half expecting fake reports from the mission - for example, would they have owned up to it crash landing? - but am thrilled that my cynicism is misplaced.

        Make Space Great Again!

        Come on, Trump, re-open NASA again!
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:39PM (#785684)

    That thing looks like our Mars rovers.

    The USSR's lunar rovers were clearly Soviet. They were big, with 8 wheels, and nuclear power.

    China shouldn't copy. With the USSR doing 8 wheels and the USA doing 6 wheels, there are plenty of options left. China could have done 7 wheels.

  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 12 2019, @10:26PM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday January 12 2019, @10:26PM (#785693) Journal

    Maybe they should have landed it up on the lunar north pole

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @12:32AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @12:32AM (#785720)

    The lro divine mission measured temps from 25K to 410K (-248C to 137C).
    https://www.diviner.ucla.edu/science [ucla.edu]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @12:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @12:51AM (#785726)
  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @01:47AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @01:47AM (#785735)

    They should go pull the American flag up and see if Trump does anything. Can't be that long of a drive.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:09AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:09AM (#785848)

      Even better, say they are going to, drive for a bit, then post a bunch of empty landscape photos and say there is nothing at the 'tranquility base'.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Sunday January 13 2019, @02:15AM

    by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 13 2019, @02:15AM (#785749) Homepage Journal

    approximately 1049 Ice Hockey rinks across

    Is that 1049 ice hockey rink widths? Or 1049 ide hockey lengths? Or maybe some of each in a checkerboard mosaic?

    -- hendrik

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday January 13 2019, @08:34PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday January 13 2019, @08:34PM (#785996) Journal

    My classmate and roommate at Harbin Institute of Technology (China's MIT) was a PhD candidate, hoping to work in their space program. Wonder if he ever made it. Good guy--wore a sweater vest and pocket protector every day that would make Lewis Skolnick proud.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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