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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Submitted via IRC for Bytram
China is about to make humankind's first visit to the farside of the moon
China is about to make space history. In December, the country will launch the first spacecraft ever to land on the farside of the moon. Another craft, slated for takeoff in 2019, will be the first to bring lunar rocks back to Earth since 1976.
These two missions — the latest in China’s lunar exploration series named after the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e — are at the forefront of renewed interest in exploring our nearest celestial body. India’s space agency as well as private companies based in Israel and Germany are also hoping for robotic lunar missions in 2019. And the United States aims to have astronauts orbiting the moon starting in 2023 and to land astronauts on the lunar surface in the late 2020s.
The time is ripe for new lunar exploration. Despite decades of study, Earth’s only natural satellite still contains mysteries about its formation as well as clues to the history of the solar system (SN: 4/15/17, p. 18). “There are too many things we don’t know,” says planetary scientist Long Xiao of China University of Geosciences in Wuhan. He is a coauthor of two studies published in June and July in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets describing the landing sites of the new Chinese missions, Chang’e-4 and -5.
Australian Broadcast Corporation:
It is the first time a soft landing has been performed on the Moon's far side — also known as the dark side because it faces away from earth and remains comparatively unknown — due to challenges relaying signals.
The Chang'e 4 spacecraft touched down at 10:26am local time, the official China Central Television said.
Chang'e 4 is a lander-rover combination and will explore both above and below the lunar surface.
Some of the experiments aboard will investigate the Moon's potential to support future space travellers.
One of those experiments is a biosphere project, which includes silkworm eggs, thale cress and potato seeds.
If it goes to plan, the ecosystem would be self-sustaining, with the silkworms germinating the potatoes and popping out caterpillars. These would in turn produce carbon dioxide, helping the plants grow as a food source.
Also at BBC, The Guardian, and CNN.
YASM means 'Yet Another Sputnik Moment'
China's Moon mission sees first seeds sprout
Seeds taken up to the Moon by China's Chang'e-4 mission have sprouted, says China National Space Administration. It marks the first time any biological matter has grown on the Moon, and is being seen as a significant step towards long-term space exploration. [...] Plants have been grown on the International Space Station before but never on the Moon.
[...] The Chinese Moon lander was carrying among its cargo soil containing cotton and potato seeds, yeast and fruit fly eggs. The plants are in a sealed container on board the lander. The crops will try to form a mini biosphere - an artificial, self-sustaining environment.
[...] On Tuesday, Chinese state media said the cotton seeds had now grown buds. The ruling Communist Party's official mouthpiece the People's Daily tweeted an image of the sprouted seed, saying it marked "the completion of humankind's first biological experiment on the Moon".
Fred Watson, Australian Astronomical Observatory's astronomer-at-large, told the BBC the development was "good news". "It suggests that there might not be insurmountable problems for astronauts in future trying to grow their own crops on the moon in a controlled environment."
According to SCMP, a similar biosphere experiment will be conducted on Earth for comparison.
A Chang'e-5 lunar exploration vehicle could be launched by the end of 2019, and would include a 2 kg sample return. At least 3 more Chang'e missions are planned.
Previously: China's Chang'e 4 Spacecraft Lands on the Far Side of the Moon
Chang'e Lander Sends Back Far Side Panorama
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @07:33PM (3 children)
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)
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)
That's exactly how one would expect them in a panorama.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 12 2019, @10:14PM
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)
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)
All the Moons of Earth?
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:16PM (2 children)
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)
That's no moon...
(Score: 2) by arslan on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:03PM
That's right, it's your momma!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:11PM (1 child)
"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. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 3, Funny) by black6host on Saturday January 12 2019, @09:33PM
Couldn't they estimate at 1024? Makes my math easier :)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by richtopia on Saturday January 12 2019, @08:19PM (2 children)
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)
Yeah, well done to the Chinese. Looks like a nice photo.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:05PM
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
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
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
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
the old negro space program [youtube.com]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @01:47AM (1 child)
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
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
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
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.