China's Chang'e-4 probe completes work for 44th lunar day

The lander and rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have been switched to dormant mode for the lunar night after working stably for a 44th lunar day.

The lander mode switch took place at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time), and the rover, Yutu-2, at 7:14 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

A lunar day is equal to 14 days on Earth. The lunar rover, which switches to dormant mode during the lunar night due to the lack of solar power, has traveled 1,239.88 meters on the far side of the moon, the center said.

The Chang'e-4 probe, launched on December 8, 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on January 3, 2019.

At present, the Chang'e-4 lander and the rover Yutu-2 have been working for more than three years on the far side of the moon, collecting over 3,800 GB of science data.

(With input from Xinhua)