China's Chang'e-4 Probe Wakes up After First Lunar Night
Xinhua
DATE:  Feb 01 2019
/ SOURCE:  XINHUA

 (Yicai  Global) Feb. 1 -- The rover and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe have  awakened by sunlight after a long "sleep" during the first extremely  cold night on the moon, the China National Space Administration sad in a  statement yesterday.

The lander woke up at 8.39 p.m. on Jan. 30,  and the rover, Yutu-2, Jade Rabbit-2 in English, awoke at about 8.00  p.m. on the same day, surviving their first lunar night after making the  first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, said the CNSA.

China's  Chang'e-4 probe, launched on Dec. 8, landed on the Von Karman Crater in  the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3.

One  lunar day equals 14 days on Earth, and one lunar night is the same  length. The Chang'e-4 probe switched to a dormant mode during the lunar  night due to the lack of solar power.

Both the lander and the  rover ended dormant mode automatically according to the elevation angle  of the sunlight. Key instruments on the probe have started to work.

Currently,  the rover is located about 18 meters northwest of the lander.  Communication and data transmission between ground control and the probe  via the relay satellite Queqiao meaning Magpie Bridge in English, are  stable.

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Keywords:   Wakes Up,Lunar Lander,Lunar Rover,Chang'e-4 Probe,National Space Administration