China's Chang'e-4 probe resumes work for 27th lunar day

BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The lander and rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have resumed work for their 27th lunar day on the far side of the moon.

The lander activated at 4:48 p.m. on Saturday (Beijing time), and the rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, activated at 4:26 a.m. also on Saturday, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

Yutu-2 has traveled about 628.5 meters on the far side of the moon. It is currently located about 430 meters northwest of the landing site.

A lunar day is equal to about 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is of the same length. The solar-powered probe switches to dormant mode during the lunar night.

During the 27th lunar day, the panorama camera on the rover will take colored pictures of moon rocks and impact craters.

The rover will move southwest toward a rock with a diameter of about 18 cm, which is about 17.8 meters away.

The infrared imaging spectrometer will be used to detect the rock and surrounding lunar soil. The neutral atom detector and lunar radar will continue to carry out scientific explorations. Enditem