China's
Jade Rabbit lunar rover, which won a large following on social media,
has been retired after a record 31 months of collecting data from the
moon's surface, state media reported Wednesday.
The
rover arrived on the moon on Dec. 14, 2013, aboard the Chang'e 3 lunar
lander and was designed to operate for just three months.
On
July 28, Chang'e 3 went into hibernation for the 14-day lunar night and
Jade Rabbit ceased operations, state media reported, citing the State
Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National
Defense.
Jade
Rabbit, or Yutu in Chinese, posted a final farewell on its Twitter-like
Weibo microblog, questioning whether it would one day be returned to
Earth. "I'm a rabbit that has seen the most stars!" the post said.
The
rover's 972 operational days far exceeded the 322 chalked up by the
former Soviet Union's Lunohkod 1 in 1970, achieving another milestone in
China's fast-developing space program. Just weeks after it landed,
engineers feared they'd lost it when it shut down under abnormal
conditions, but it revived and appeared to operate efficiently until its
final shutdown last week.
The
rover's cameras, telescopes and radar made it a key part of the
mission. Data it produced offered insights into the geological evolution
of the moon.
China
will attempt to land an unmanned spaceship on the moon next year that
would return to Earth with samples. Only the United States and Russia
have previously carried out such a maneuver successfully.
China has also hinted at a possible crewed mission to the moon.
China
sent its first astronaut into space in 2003 and has powered ahead with a
series of methodically timed steps, including the deploying of an
experimental space station.
Chang'e is the name of a mythical Chinese goddess said to live on the moon and Yutu was her pet.
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