Yutu-2
Yutu-2 rover on the Moon as seen by the Chang'e 4 lander | |
| Mission type | lunar rover |
|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA |
| Mission duration | 3 months (planned) Current: 2360 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | Rover: 140 kg |
| Landing mass | 140 kg |
| Dimensions | 1.5 × 1.0 × 1.0 m |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 7 December 2018, 18:23 UTC |
| Rocket | Long March 3B |
| Launch site | Xichang Satellite Launch Center |
| Lunar rover | |
| Landing date | 3 January 2019, 02:26 UTC |
| Landing site | Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin |
| Distance driven | 1.613 km (1.002 mi) as of 19 September 2024 |
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Yutu-2 (Chinese: 玉兔二号; pinyin: Yùtù Èrhào) is the robotic lunar rover component of CNSA's Chang'e 4 mission to the Moon, launched on 7 December 2018 18:23 UTC, it entered lunar orbit on 12 December 2018 before making the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019. Yutu-2 is currently operational as the longest-lived lunar rover after it eclipsed (on 20 November 2019) the previous lunar longevity record of 321 Earth days held by Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover.
Yutu-2 is the first lunar rover to traverse the far side of the Moon. By January 2022, it had travelled a distance of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) along the lunar surface. Data from its ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been used by scientists to put together imagery of multiple layers deep beneath the surface of the far side of the Moon. As of September 2024, the Yutu-2 was still active.