In January 2019, China achieved significant success by landing its first rover on the far side of the Moon. The Yutu-2 rover has been traveling the far side of the Moon invisible from Earth for two years, providing valuable insight into the unexplored region. However, scientific devices are not the only parts that collect information, even their wheels support science there.
The rover was carried by the Chang’e 4 lander, which itself captured breathtaking images and made impressive contributions to science, and traveled more than 1,000 meters across the Moon’s surface. In their study, published in Science Robotics, the researchers used data from the rover’s movements to determine the characteristics of the lunar soil on the far side of the Moon.
The rover’s tour helped them determine how rugged the terrain was and what type of regolith it was dealing with (soil on celestial bodies). And the results look quite different from what the Apollo astronauts experienced. In fact, it has some Earth-like qualities similar to dry sand.
“During its voyage, Yutu-2 experienced varying degrees of slight gliding, suggesting that the terrain is relatively flat at large scales but has diffuse local gentle slopes. The rough soil clinging to its wheels is a larger lunar than encountered at other lunar landing sites,” the authors write in the paper. means the harmony of the land”.
Further, “further identification results show that the regolith is similar in bearing properties to dry sand and sandy loam on Earth and exhibits greater bearing strength than that described during the Apollo missions.”
This may be because space wear has spread over a longer period of time. Another thing that looks different is that the number of rocks and craters in the area is much higher than observed on the near side. In particular, fresh craters containing highly reflective material may be the result of secondary effects, which can be defined as effects from lunar material ejected by (not) a meteorite and falling back to the surface.
Findings from Yutu-2 add to the wider scientific literature on the difference between the two sides of the Moon that we always see and that are hidden from us.
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