Jade Rabbit lives! China's moon rover overcomes mechanical failure

By James Griffiths, February 13, 2014

Despite fears that China's moon rover would be unable to wake up after the long lunar night, Yutu is up and ready to roam once again.

"Yutu has come back to life!" said Pei Zhaoyu, spokesperson for the lunar probe program.

Pei said experts are still working to verify the causes of its "mechanical control abnormality".

"[Yutu] went into sleep under an abnormal status,” Pei said. “We initially worried that it might not be able to bear the extremely low temperatures during the lunar night. The rover stands a chance of being saved now that it is still alive."

Yutu's presumed doom attracted an outpouring of sympathy both in China and out, including a memorable dramatic reading of the rover's "last words" by Sir Patrick Stewart on the Daily Show.

[Image via Xinhua]

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[The Chang'e 3 lander took this photo of the rover Yutu on December 22, 2013. The rover had completed a semicircular tour of the lander and was departing the lander due south. This version of the image has been white-balanced and color-corrected. Image: CNSA / Gordan Ugarkovi]