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posted by janrinok on Saturday August 06 2016, @09:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the rabbit-sees-stars dept.

"I'm the rabbit that has seen the most stars."

New Scientist reports:

The moon just got a little more lonesome. China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced today [in Chinese] that its moon rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, has finally stopped operating after 31 months on the surface.

Yutu touched down on the lunar surface in December 2013 as part of the Chang'e-3 lander mission, making China the third country to reach the moon after Russia and the United States.

It was prematurely declared dead in February 2014 after a harsh lunar night -- the moon experiences two weeks of dark followed by two of light -- then showed signs of life, but was unable to move. Despite these issues, in October 2015 Yutu claimed the record for the longest operating rover on the moon.

SASTIND says data from Yutu has generated over 100 scientific papers about the moon, including the discovery of a previously unseen layer of lava flows.

Yutu's death isn't the end of China's lunar ambitions. The Chang'e 3 lander, which hosts a robotic telescope, is still going strong, and in 2017 the nation plans to launch a probe to gather moon rocks and bring them back to Earth.

[Continues...]

The BBC notes that:

On micro-blogging site Weibo, the rover's official first-person account has a following of over 600,000 fans.

It has kept them updated with news of its discoveries, as well as cute cartoons about its antics.

In February 2014, it briefly went quiet during a lunar night, but after recovering from mechanical difficulties posted the message: "Hi, anybody there?"

But in a message sent on Sunday it said: "This time it really is goodnight," the rover said

"There are still many questions I would like answers to, but I'm the rabbit that has seen the most stars."

"The Moon has prepared a long dream for me, I don't know what it will be like - will I be a Mars explorer, or be sent back to Earth?"


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday August 06 2016, @01:23PM

    by looorg (578) on Saturday August 06 2016, @01:23PM (#384750)

    Roger? Judge Doom? Disney? Longing for his insane hot cartoon wife back on earth?

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