Posted on by Andy Tomaswick

China’s Rover Finds That Regolith on the Moon’s far-Side is Stickier Than the Near-Side

We’re never able to see the far side of the moon from the Earth, but that doesn’t mean it’s that different.  Recently rovers and satellites have started exploring the lesser-known side of the moon.  They found a slightly different geology than that discovered on the near side, which might have implications for navigating the far side in the future.

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Posted on by Matt Williams

China Releases New Pictures From the Surface of the Moon

Image of the Chang'e-4 lander, taken by the Yutu 2 rover. Credit: CNSA/GRAS/Doug Ellison

Ever since it made its historic landing on Jan. 3rd, 2019, the Chang’e-4 mission and its Yutu 2 rover have been busy exploring the lunar surface. Just recently, the mission passed its first year of operations and earned the distinction of being the first rover to travel a record 357.695 meters (1,173.5 ft) on the far side of the Moon. And in between all that, the mission has also provided some truly fascinating images of the lunar surface.

Thanks to a data release issued on Monday (Jan. 20th), the public can now peruse through all of the high-resolution images taken by the Chang’e-4 mission. The data, which was released by the Ground Research and Application System (GRAS) of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Project, includes images of the far side of the Moon that were taken with the lander’s terrain camera and the panoramic camera on the Yutu-2 rover.

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