China’s Chang'E-4 explores Moon’s far side with radar
The Chinese spacecraft Chang'E-4 has been using radar to reveal the inner topography of the lunar surface, having landed on the far side of the Moon just over a year ago.
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers described how the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) on Chang'E-4’s Yutu-2 rover sent 500 MHz radio waves deep into the surface of the Moon, reaching a depth of 40 meters. This is more than three times the depth reached by previous mission Chang'E-3, helping to paint a much richer picture of the structure and layers that form the Moon’s subsurface.
Chinese rover sets off after historic Chang’e 4 Moon landing
"We found that the signal penetration at the Chang'E-4 site is much greater than that measured by the previous spacecraft, Chang'E-3, at its near-side landing site," said study author LI Chunlai, a research professor and deputy director-general of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC).
"The subsurface at the Chang'E-4 landing site is much more transparent to radio waves, and this qualitative observation suggests a totally different geological context for the two landing sites."
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