China's Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover Comes Back to Life After Malfunction

Just two weeks ago, China's lunar rover "Yutu", also known as "Jade Rabbit," entered a hibernation period, and many feared it would shut down after experiencing a mechanical control abnormality. News has surfaced earlier today in favor of the rover.

China's state news agency, Xinhua, reported earlier today that the rover has recovered from its previous non-responsive state and is now fully awake and able to receive signals. China's lunar program spokesman Pei Zhaoyu told Xinhua the exciting news.

The robot's resurrection was celebrated by those in the Chinese space program as well as people who followed the rover's activity; Yutu has over 300,000 followers on China's twitter-like social media website, Weibo. The news has excited many because on Monday the rover was reported to have been lost after it failed to communicate with Chinese mission controllers. You can read more about its failure in this Universe Today article.

In fact, various media outlets around the world filed an obituary for the lunar rover after Xinhua reported its alleged death. But the positive news today has been a relief for space exploration as a whole, because Yutu's recovery could mark another milestone in recent space missions. NASA's Opportunity Mars rover previously appeared to encounter some difficulties, but it has exceeded expectations and has lasted over ten years on the Red Planet. Yutu plans to continue its three-month moon mission, scouring for potential resources.

Following two weeks of inactivity, the Chinese lunar rover is still being examined by its technical team to identify the source of the original problem that caused its shutdown two weeks ago. China's Chang'e-3 lunar exploration mission (previously launched by the China National Space Administration) hopes to fully repair Yutu and have China's first lunar rover continue its exploration.

To read more about China's lunar rover, visit this CNN article.