China's Chang'e-4 Probe Resumes Work For 20th Lunar Day

The lander and rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have resumed work for the 20th lunar day on the far side of the moon

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jul, 2020 ) :The lander and rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have resumed work for the 20th lunar day on the far side of the moon.

The lander woke up at 5:48 a.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time), and the rover awoke at 12:53 p.m. Tuesday. Both are in normal working order, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

The Chang'e-4 probe, launched on Dec. 8, 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan.

3, 2019.

A lunar day is equal to 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is the same length. The Chang'e-4 probe, switching to dormant mode during the lunar night due to the lack of solar power, has survived about 559 Earth days on the moon.

The rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, has worked much longer than its three-month design life, becoming the longest-working lunar rover on the moon.