China’s historic Chang’e-6 selfie from moon’s far side taken with AI

The autonomous four-wheeled mini-rover is ‘a testament’ to the software team’s breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, state media said

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Chinese state media has confirmed that artificial intelligence was used by the Chang’e-6 mission’s mini-rover to take this image on the surface of the moon’s far side. Photo: CNSA

Published: 10:06am, 6 Jun 2024Updated: 8:27pm, 6 Jun 2024

The “photographer” behind the historic image of the Chang’e-6 mission’s lander and the Chinese national flag on the surface of the moon’s far side was a 5kg (11lb) mini-rover using artificial intelligence software.

The state-owned China Space Daily said the four-wheeled rover was released from the side of the lander after sample collection was completed on Monday. It moved autonomously across the lunar surface to find the “best” angle for the picture.

The rover – also known as an autonomous intelligent mini-robot – adjusted image composition before capturing third-person views of the lander-ascender combination and sending them back to Earth in a fully automated manner, according to the report.

The tracks of the rover, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), can be identified under the morning sunlight in the released image, along with the lander, its solar panels and robotic arm, with the ascent vehicle sitting on top of it.

The mini-robot is much smaller than its predecessors – Yutu-1 and Yutu-2 each weighed as much as two adults – but boasts “advanced autonomous capabilities and highly integrated, lightweight hardware which is a testament to the team’s breakthroughs in artificial intelligence”, the report said.

Quentin Parker, an astrophysicist from the University of Hong Kong, said if the rover was autonomous and was making choices based on input data from cameras, then it would be the first use of AI on a lunar rover.

“But other systems on various Chang’e spacecraft, as well as recent lunar probes developed by countries other than China, may have also made use of AI,” he said.