Beijing: China’s lunar rover got back to work on the far side of the moon Thursday after waking from a five-day hibernation, its official social media page announced.
“Afternoon nap is over, waking up and getting moving,” the Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) posted on the Twitter-like Weibo.
The rover on Saturday went into standby mode to protect itself from temperatures reaching toward 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit), the China Lunar Exploration Program under the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
The 140-kilogram (308-pound) rover has since resumed activities, which will include taking a picture of the front side of the lander and exploration missions.
The Chang’e 4 mission — named after a moon goddess — made the world’s first soft landing on the moon’s far side on January 3.
The rover, named after the moon goddess’s pet rabbit, successfully separated from the lander and drove onto the moon’s surface last Thursday.
Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space program, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022, and of eventually sending humans on a lunar mission.
This is the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover mission in 2013.
China’s space agency has said the mission “lifted the mysterious veil” from the far side of the moon, which is never seen from Earth, and “opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration.”
Unlike the near side of the moon that offers many flat areas to touch down on, the far side is mountainous and rugged.
The moon is “tidally locked” to Earth in its rotation so the same side is always facing Earth.
The Chang’e 4 probe is equipped with instruments developed by scientists from Sweden, Germany and China to study the lunar environment, cosmic radiation and the interaction between solar wind and the moon’s surface, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Chang’e 4 landed within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest and deepest impact crater in the solar system.
Scientists have said it is a key area for solving several unknowns about the moon, including its internal structure and thermal evolution.
China moon rover ‘Jade Rabbit’ wakes from ‘nap’
China moon rover ‘Jade Rabbit’ wakes from ‘nap’
- The rover went into standby mode to protect itself from temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius
- China’s space agency has said the mission “lifted the mysterious veil” from the far side of the moon
Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
- iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7
- Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options
STOCKHOLM: Apple will change how users choose browser options in the European Union, add a dedicated section for changing default apps, and make more apps deletable, the company said on Thursday.
The iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers on a “choice screen.”
The new rules require mobile software makers to show the choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones, which earlier came with preferred options from Apple and Google.
In an update later this year, Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options.
A randomly ordered list of 12 browsers per EU country will be shown to the user with short descriptions, and the chosen one will be automatically downloaded, Apple said. The choice screen will also be available on iPads through an update later this year.
Apple released a previous update in response to the new rules in March, but browser companies criticized the design of its choice screen, and the Commission opened an investigation on March 25 saying it suspected that the measures fell short of effective compliance.
The company said it has been in dialogue with the European Commission and believes the new changes will address regulators’ concerns.
It also plans to introduce a dedicated area for default apps where a user will be able to set defaults for messaging, phone calls, spam filters, password managers and keyboards.
Users will also be able to delete certain Apple-made apps such as App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos and Safari. Only Settings and Phone apps would not be deletable.
