China's Chang'e 4 probe resumes work for 20th lunar day

BEIJING -- The lander and rover of the Chang'e 4 probe have resumed work for the 20th lunar day on the far side of the moon.

The lander woke up at 5:48 am Wednesday (Beijing Time), and the rover awoke at 12:53 pm Tuesday. Both are in normal working order, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

The Chang'e 4 probe, launched on Dec 8, 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan 3, 2019.

A lunar day is equal to 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is the same length. The Chang'e 4 probe, switching to dormant mode during the lunar night due to the lack of solar power, has survived about 559 Earth days on the moon.

The rover Yutu 2, or Jade Rabbit 2, has worked much longer than its three-month design life, becoming the longest-working lunar rover on the moon.