BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Moon goddess and jade rabbit

A week ago China launched Chang'e 3. Chang'e is named for a moon goddess in Chinese folklore. The first two Chang'e missions were lunar orbiters, but this one is a lander which has a lunar rover called Yutu, meaning jade rabbit. The rabbit lived on the Moon with Chang'e.

The Chang'e 3 launch

Chang'e 3 is in lunar orbit. The Yutu rover's landing site is to be in Sinus Iridum. Sinus Iridum means Bay of Rainbows, though it's an impact crater rather than a bay. Expected landing date: 14th of December.

Today's the big day! Chang'e has gone into a lower orbit. The lander and Yutu are prepared for a soft landing on the Moon. The last soft landing on the Moon was in August 1976 when the Soviet probe Luna-24 landed in the Mare Crisium. It then successfully returned samples of Moon soil to Earth.

How Yutu will be taken to the Moon's surface

The Chang'e lander and Moon rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit) are safely on the Moon. Solar panels will provide energy. There will be pictures going home soon.

Here is an artist's depiction of Jade Rabbit on the Moon

Here is the poetically-named landing site of Chang'e: Sinus Iridum - the Bay of Rainbows.

China's lunar rover . . . down the ramp and onto the Moon early this morning.

Yutu touches the Moon.

(Screenshot taken from the screen of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing. Credit: Xinhua/post processing by Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer)

Chang'e-3 made its landing close to Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows), but not quite. It actually came down in nearby Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers).

Here is an image that shows the location of the landing site.

Here is part of a panorama stiched together from Change'e-3 photos. It's based on the first full color pictures released by CNSA (Chinese National Space Administration) yesterday.

You can see the full panorama here. (Click to enlarge.)

Hi Mona,

Oh so humbling - that first post of this series showing the launch of Chang'e is enough to make a person cry at the wonder of it all and the continuous ingenuity of mankind.

What a fantastic set of posts and so interesting even if way out of my field. Thank you so much for introducing me to it all ... Cheers now

Thanks For sharing this Superb knowledgeable information.

I feel that having a rover on the Moon is very exciting. Lestie and gexton71, I'm glad to know you're sharing the excitement too. It is truly a marvelous achievement.

The lunar rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit) is in trouble. The rover should have shut down as lunar night fell, but had a technical malfunction and wasn't able to do that. It's now midway through the night, which is two weeks long and it's cold, down to -170 Celsius (-275 Fahrenheit). Next week when the Sun has risen on the Mare Imbrium, we will learn if Yutu survived the night. Even if it does, the technical problems may still not be solvable.

The China News Agency reported yesterday that Jade Rabbit (Yutu) had not survived the lunar night after failing to shut down correctly. But now it seems that all may not yet be lost. The Xinhua news agency says the mechanical malfunction remains, but the rover is not dead. A spokesman for the lunar program says that Yutu is responding to signals. Some radio amateurs confirm that they picked up Yutu's downlink transmissions Wednesday night.

What's up with the moon goddess and her rabbit?

After waking up late from the 2nd lunar night, the Yutu rover did some on-the-spot observations, but is still unable to move. The mechanical problem isn't fixed, but both the rover and the Chang'e-3 lander had to go back into hibernation on Sunday. The vehicles are solar powered, so they need to shut down during the 2-week lunar night. This saves energy and protects their instrumentation during these periods of intense cold.

The Chinese space agency hasn't given any details about how they've been trying to resolve the problems with the rover.