A part of the panoramic image that was created from photos taken by China's Yutu-2 lunar rover on the moon. /CMG
China's lunar rover Yutu-2 sent back photos taken on the moon 380,000 kilometers away from Earth on Friday, China's Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also known as the Moon Festival.
Engineers pieced the photos together to create a panorama shot of the Yutu-2's surroundings.
"The rover's camera rotated two rounds and took 56 photos," said Fu Qiang, chief designer of the Chang'e-4 mission ground application system. "The final panorama photo is over 300 megabytes in file size."
The Chang'e-4 lunar probe was launched back in late 2018, and the mission has been "smooth," according to Fu.
"We have collected a huge number of images and videos," Fu told China Media Group. "We have been processing the data every day."
Fu Qiang opens the panorama shot on a computer. /CMG
The photos are used to learn more about the moon and, more importantly, determine where the Yutu-2 – or Jade Rabbit 2 – should be heading.
"The lunar surface is complicated," Fu said. "We need to be careful when planning the route to make sure the rover travels reliably."
"We also found some locations of interest in the photos and can drive the rover to those places to study more," he added.
More missions coming
Having traveled on the far side of the moon for more than four years, the Yutu-2 has worked far longer than the designed lifecycle. It has journeyed more than 1.5 kilometers and sent back nearly a terabyte of data.
In 2024, the Chinese space program will launch the Chang'e-6 mission. As a previous backup for the Chang'e-5 lunar probe, the Chang'e-6 will sample the far side of the moon for the first time in human history.
The Chang'e-6 probe will also carry payloads and satellites from four countries during the mission.