For the first time China's lunar probes will operate for one year.
"We have made all the hardware and software ready for the tasks of long-term control and have developed new methods of management," said Cui.
JUNQI Liu, one of the chief engineer on the team Cui, said that during the year the task team will coordinate the Main control station to monitor the Chang'e - 3 lander and rover Yutu, and to organize scientific missions on the lunar surface.
One of the difficulties the team is to put the lander and rover to the moon sleep mode when the night comes and "wake them up" after the night was over, he said.
One evening in the month about 14 Earth days, the temperature drops below minus 180 C and no sun to provide electricity in solar panels instrument'.
He said the long-term management, lander and rover does not need many people to take care of it, because it's a team Cui, who has less than 20 people, capable of taking over from the Main control group.
"Furthermore, the small team will control the probe to perform scientific operations that can last several months. They will test whether the lander and rover to function properly in the long term and until the designed lifetime," added the officer." For the full year period, controlling approximately 15 teams will work day and night shifts, so this is really a tough job."
The lunar rover Yutu has a designed life time of three months, and the lander is expected to work for one year.
Yutu completed the first sampling of lunar soil using a mechanical arm on Tuesday, said the center of Beijing.
"Accuracy control mechanical arm at a distance of 380,000 kilometers has been realized in the probe, marking China's breakthrough in controlling a mechanical arm with high precision on the surface of the moon, "said Wu Fenglei from the center.
Yutu will continue to survey the lunar surface geological structure and search for natural resources, while the lander would explore the surface location to the end of its lifetime.
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