China's State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense¹ has unveiled the rover for China's Chang'e 4 lunar exploration mission.

 

中国国家国防科技工业局公开嫦娥四号月球探测任务所使用的探测器。
 

 

Chang'e 4 lander and rover will be launched in December, and is due to land in the Aitken Basin near the Moon's South Pole. 

 

According to a Beijing News report, at 140 kilograms it is the world's lightest Moon rover. It is equipped with a panoramic² camera, radar³ infra-red imaging spectrometer, and a neutral atom detector⁴. 

 

To ensure that the rover can survive the drastic temperature changes on the Moon, scientists incorporated a radioisotope heat source in the rover's power supply to keep it warm as the Moon's surface temperatures plunge⁵ as low as minus 180 degrees Celsius⁶, says Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Chang'e lunar exploration program. The new rover has been designed to see out a three-month mission, but is expected to survive for a much longer period. 

 

The government has launched a global campaign to name the new rover. 

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