China's lunar rover "awakes" despite abnormality: spokesman
13 February 2014
China's moon rover Yutu "awakes" and is able to pick up signals despite it is still experiencing a mechanical control abnormality, a spokesman with the country's lunar probe program said on Thursday. Pei Zhaoyu, the spokesman, said "the rover stands a chance of being saved as it is still alive".
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UPDATE on Xinhua website
13 February 2014
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It is only over when it is over
12 February 2014
The international lunar community and Yutu fans from all over the world are eagerly waiting for a sign of life from the Jade Rabbit.
The only news so far is the small release by ChinaDaily under the headline "Loss of lunar rover" that “China's first lunar rover, Yutu, could not be restored to full function on Monday as expected, and netizens mourned it on Weibo, China's Twitter-like service.”
Now, this leaves room for speculation. It does not sound like the rover is dead or frozen or nothing works anymore. It reads more like: well, it is not the Yutu as before the begin of the lunar night, but also not like something that is not moving any joint anymore. We have seen in the past, how creative Chinese engineers manoeuvred the Chang'e 2 mission to additional, not planned, destinations during the extended mission phase. Whatever might become possible now, it will give the new generation of Chinese scientists and engineers an amasing real-time opportunity to test and try and learn. The rest of the space world should be jealous!
Waiting for Yutu - expecting the worst, hoping for the best!
03 February 2014
It is too early to give up hope! Science and technology are the areas where only facts are accepted for making predictions. However, sometimes miracles happen. Morris Jones, Australia's leading space analyst for the Chinese space programme is having a look at the possible scenarios Yutu might encounter after the end of the lunar night by the end of this week.
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China’s Chang’e-3 Lander and Yutu Moon Rover – from Above and Below
29 January 2014
Universe Today is presenting a collage of images composed of photos provided by NASA and CNSA showing China’s Chang’e-3 lander and Yutu Moon rover from above and below. The unique situation of having NASA's lunar probes in Moon's orbit and the Chinese space crafts on the surface of the Moon gives the opportunity for showing the locations of the surface vehicles.
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