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The dark side of the moon, near the south pole of the satellite, is a dark and dead place, filled with wells and rocks, as confirmed by the first panoramic image captured by the Chinese probe Chang & # 39; e 4.
• Chinese Rover Jade Rabbit 2 already collects data on the far side of the moon
Eight days after his historic landing on the far side of the moon, Chang's e 4 took his first panoramic shot. The image, a mosaic made up of 80 individual images, offers a 360 ° view of the immediate vicinity of the probe, showing the irregular horizon line, some small stones, the partner of Chang & # 39; e 4 – the lunar rover Jade Rabbit 2 – and a series of small craters.
The complete 360º panoramic image, composed of 80 individual images. In fact, the surprising number of craters around the landing site will be "a big challenge" for the lunar rover in future explorations, he said.
Chinese News Agency Xinhua . Ironically, Chang'd 4 has landed inside a crater – that of Von Kármán, in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest craters of impact never documented in the solar system. Lander and Rover are currently six thousand feet below the sea level of the Moon, so to speak. Or, if you prefer, the technical terms below the common equipotential surface.
Section of the new 360º panoramic image revealing numerous craters. "The information coming from the depths of the moon will be one of our exploration objectives," said Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China, in an interview with Xinhua . He added that "in the panorama, we can see that the probe is surrounded by several small craters, which is really exciting."
Section of the new 360 ° panoramic image showing instruments in Chang & # 39; e 4 and a considerable well in lunar surface. Image: CNSA
One of the craters near the lander is about 20 meters wide and four meters deep. Mission planners from the National Space Administration of China (CNSA) will need to consider this well and other wells while controlling the movements of the Jade Rabbit 2, also known as Yutu 2. [19659002] 
Part of the new 360 ° panoramic image with another large crater nearby. CNSA
Images of the surface are being transmitted on a Chinese lunar retransmission satellite, called Queqiao, which in turn sends the data to Earth. In addition to confirming the reliability of this retransmission link, the CNSA mission controllers were able to initiate Chang & # 39; e 4 instruments and perform a "bidirectional mutual capture" in which the undercarriage and the probe were taking pictures of each other.
"The image clearly shows the relief of the lunar landscape around the LG and the rover, as well as the A red star with five stars in both devices is particularly conspicuous" , said the CNSA in a statement.
[196459002] It is important to note that Chang's e 4 and Jade Rabbit 2 survived a lunar night during the hibernation devices were placed in hibernation mode. In 2016, the predecessor of Jade Rabbit 2 could not stand the freezing temperatures, expiring shortly after the landing. The CNSA statement described this preliminary stage of the mission as a "complete success," claiming that she could now move on to the scientific exploration phase.
In addition to the new panoramic image, the CNSA released a video of Chang's landing. 4 – a video with 4,700 images captured by the probe camera, according to Xinhua . An badysis of the video shows that the lunar dust is quite thick at the landing site, suggesting that the lunar regolith of the region has suffered a longer spatial erosion, which clearly shows that the region is older ", said Li.
The LG and the probe will collect scientific data on the lunar environment, cosmic radiation and the effects of the solar wind on the surface of the Moon. Scientists hope to know more about the initial conditions of the solar system, then this information for a future inhabited lunar mission.
[CLEP, CNSA, Xinhua]
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