As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

SPACE: Chinese Moon Rover Checks Out the Far Side

Chinese Moon Rover

China’s far-side moon mission has turned its history-making gaze underground. The Chang’e 4 spacecraft touched down on the floor of the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater on Jan. 2, 2019, becoming the first probe ever to ace a soft landing on the moon’s mysterious far side, which forever points away from Earth. A rover called Yutu 2 (“Jade Rabbit 2”) rolled off the stationary Chang’e 4 lander just hours after touchdown. These two solar-powered craft have now been taking the measure of their exotic surroundings for more than a year with a variety of science gear, giving us unprecedented … Read more

SPACE: The Moon is Made of… Jelly?

moon - pixabay

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar rover has discovered an unusually colored, ‘gel-like’ substance during its exploration activities on the far side of the moon. The mission’s rover, Yutu-2, stumbled on that surprise during lunar day 8. The discovery prompted scientists on the mission to postpone other driving plans for the rover, and instead focus its instruments on trying to figure out what the strange material is. Day 8 started on July 25; Yutu-2 began navigating a path through an area littered with various small impact craters, with the help and planning of drivers at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, according to a … Read more

Take a Walk On the Dark Side (of the Moon) – Live Science

Looking up at the silvery orb of the Moon, you might recognize familiar shadows and shapes on its face from one night to the next. You see the same view of the Moon our early ancestors did as it lighted their way after sundown. Only one side of the spherical Moon is ever visible from Earth — it wasn’t until 1959 when the Soviet Spacecraft Luna 3 orbited the Moon and sent pictures home that human beings were able to see the “far side” of the Moon for the first time. A phenomenon called tidal locking is responsible for the … Read more