[PULSE.NG] China's lunar lander has woken from a freezing fortnight-long hibernation to find night-time temperatures on the moon's dark side are colder than previously thought, the national space agency said Thursday.
The Chang'e-4 probe -- named after a Chinese moon goddess -- made the first ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on January 3, a major step in China's ambitions to become a space superpower.
Temperatures on the moon's surface plummeted to minus 190 degrees celsius (-310 degrees Fahrenheit) during the probe's first lunar night, which "was colder than scientists expected," the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
Major polar vortex there!
The night-time temperatures were recorded by the Chinese probe after it became active on Wednesday, following a slumber that lasted for about two earth weeks.
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