First Look: Chang'e 4

East to west limb view of Von Kármán crater
Arrows indicate position of Chang'e 4 lander on the floor of Von Kármán crater. The sharp crater behind and to the left of the landing site is 3900 meters across (12,800 feet) and 600 meters (1970 feet) deep. Image was shrunk by more than a factor of ten (full resolution available inside the post). LROC NAC M1303521387LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

On 3 January 2019 the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 4 safely landed on the floor of Von Kármán crater (186 kilometer diameter, 116 miles). Four weeks later (30 January 2019), as LRO approached the crater from the east, it rolled 70° to the west to snap this spectacular view looking across the floor towards the west wall. Because LRO was 330 kilometers (205 miles) to the east of the landing site, the Chang'e 4 lander is only about two pixels across (bright spot between the two arrows), and the small rover is not detectable. The massive mountain range in the background is the west wall of Von Kármán crater, rising more than 3000 meters (9850 feet) above the floor.

2x enlargment of Chang'e 4 lander
Area around lander enlarged by a factor of two relative to the native pixel scale (see zoomify below), bright speck between two arrows is the lander. The large crater in the center (just right and below arrows) is about 440 meters (1440 feet) across. LROC NAC M1303521387LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Explore the full resolution limb view of the Chang'e 4 landing site. LROC NAC M1303521387LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

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Full resolution view of Chang'e 4 lander
Full resolution crop centered on Chang'e 4 lander, bright speck between two arrows is the lander. The large crater in the center (just right and below arrows) is about 440 meters (1440 feet) across. LROC NAC M1303521387LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published by Mark Robinson on 6 February 2019

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