http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2014/01/27/chinas-moon-rover-runs-into-technical-trouble/
Over the weekend, China's space agency told Xinhua that its "Yutu" rover has suffered a mechanical abnormality, just as it was about to be temporarily shut down for the next two weeks during the Lunar night. The rover is dormant during this period because there's no sunlight available to power it. According to China's state TV, scientists with the country's space program are organizing a repair effort. The Chang'e-3 lander so far appears to be unaffected by any abnormality. It went dormant on Friday for the Lunar night. The Chinese Chang'e-3 lander and its companion rover were launched from China in early December and landed on December 14th. The successful landing of the Chang'e-3 marked the first rover to "soft land" on the Moon in 37 years. Chang'e-3 is part of a multi-phase program by China aimed at a manned Moon landing in the year 2025. The next phase of the mission will involve China sending an unmanned probe to the Moon in 2017 that will land, collect samples, and return to Earth. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
