News / Brèves Space / Espace Back to previous selection / Retour à la sélection précédente Roving the Moon Is Harder Than It Looks, Chinese Explain 19 April 2014 (LPAC)—Space engineers in China are trying a last-ditch attempt to see if they can work around the problem faced since January 25 by the Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, lunar rover. Although they have been able to communicate with the small craft, they have been unable to get it to move its wheels or activate its solar panels. They have identified the fault as being in the electrical circuitry. Engineers are trying to find a way to work around the blockage of the electrical current, which they described as like a blood clot in a human blood vessel. Professor Wang Jianyu, deputy director general of the Chinese Society of Space Research, offered a possible explanation for the failure, the South China Morning Post reported. "The temperature on the Moon is considerably lower than [was] our previous estimation," Wang said. Some components may be suffering from "frostbite." While it is the case that all of the major systems on any spacecraft have back-up systems, these are designed to be able to circumvent faults that have been anticipated. This "blood clot" could have been caused by a number of different factors, and clearly one that was not anticipated. The rover continues to send back scientific data, but its unique experiments were dependent upon its ability to rove. Although there has not been any recent data released from instruments aboard the Chang’e-3 lander, there is no indication it is not operating as expected. [Marsha G Freeman]