Jade Rabbit is no more

China’s lunar rover, Jade Rabbit, only lasted a little over a month on the moon. Today, China News Service covered the story on the demise of Jade Rabbit. The rover landed on the moon on December 14, but on January 25, just before its second lunar night (14 days on earth) on the moon, it encountered mechanical problems. The lunar nights can be brutal, with temperatures falling below -180 degrees Celsius. Following the announcement of the difficulties, thousands of Chinese citizens sent their blessings to the rover. Since the mechanical failure, the unit was never able to operate correctly again, reportedly from “the complicated lunar surface environment.” For China’s first step into the next frontier, this is a difficult setback. At the time of the launch, the deputy engineer-in-chief in charge of the program, Sun Huixian said “China’s space exploration will not stop at the moon… Our target is deep space.” Hopefully, this won’t shutter future exploration for China’s space program.

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