Monday, February 24, 2014

Fwd: Jade Rabbit moon rover goes into hibernation



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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: February 24, 2014 8:12:22 AM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Jade Rabbit moon rover goes into hibernation

 

China Focus: Uneasy rest begins for China's troubled Yutu rover

 

English.news.cn   2014-02-23 16:39:22

 

This undated photo taken by the camera on the Yutu moon rover shows the Chang'e-3 moon lander and the moon surface. The Chang'e-3 lander entered its third dormancy on early Feb. 23, 2014. China's lunar rover Yutu also entered the dormancy on Feb. 22, with the mechanical control issues that might cripple the vehicle still unresolved. According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), Yutu only carried out fixed point observations during its third lunar day, equivalent to about two weeks on Earth. Yutu's radar, panorama camera and infrared imaging equipment are functioning normally, the control issues that have troubled the rover since January persist. (Xinhua/SASTIND)

by Xinhua Writer Wang Cong

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar rover Yutu entered its third planned dormancy on Saturday, with the mechanical control issues that might cripple the vehicle still unresolved.

According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) on Sunday, Yutu only carried out fixed point observations during its third lunar day, equivalent to about two weeks on Earth.

Yutu's radar, panorama camera and infrared imaging equipment are functioning normally, but the control issues that have troubled the rover since January persist.

The rover went to sleep mode on Saturday afternoon.

During the lunar night, there is no sunlight to power Yutu's solar panels. In this period, the rover is expected to stay in a power-off mode and communication with Earth is cut.

Yutu, named after the pet rabbit of the lunar goddess Chang'e in Chinese mythology, touched down on the moon's surface on Dec. 15, some hours after lunar probe Chang'e-3 landed.

The rover was designed to roam the lunar surface for at least three months to survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances and look for natural resources.

But problems emerged before the rover entered its second dormancy on the moon on Jan. 25 as the lunar night fell. According to SASTIND, the mechanic control abnormality occurred due to the "complicated lunar surface"

Experts had feared that it might never function again, but Yutu "woke up" on Feb. 12, two days behind schedule, and caused a stir in China's social networking circles.

A the awakening was announced by an unverified user named "Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover", which posts first-person accounts in the "voice" of the probe, and has gone viral on Weibo.com.

"Hi, anybody there?" it asked, prompting over 60,000 reposts and 40,000 comments within two hours.

Its latest post on Sunday, which featured a picture of the Chang'e-3 probe taken by Yutu during its third lunar day and the caption of "zzZ", implicating the lunar rover had gone asleep, were also reposted by thousands within minutes.

"Remember to wake up on time, you lazy bones," one wrote in reply.

Meanwhile, the Chang'e-3 lunar probe, which carried Yutu to the moon's surface, also entered dormancy in the wee hours of Sunday morning, after carrying out observations of celestial bodies and the Earth's plasmasphere using its optical telescope and extreme ultraviolet camera.

China is the third country to soft-land on the moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.

Chang'e-3 is part of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth. The country has also sent probes to orbit the moon in 2007 and 2010, the first of which crashed onto the lunar surface at the end of its mission.

The second probe was sent to verify key technologies for Chang'e-3 and reconnoitered the landing area, before being sent into deep space.

According to the SASTIND, the Chang'e-2 has become China's first man-made asteroid, and is currently 70 million kilometers from the Earth.

 

Copyright ©2014 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.

 

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China's Jade Rabbit moon rover goes into hibernation again to survive lunar freeze

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 23 February, 2014, 6:06pm

UPDATED : Sunday, 23 February, 2014, 11:23pm

The Chang'e-3 moon probe and Jade Rabbit lunar rover have gone into a third hibernation to survive a 'cold night' on the moon, state news agency Xinhua has reported.

The probe was out early on Sunday and the rover on Saturday afternoon, although an earlier mechanical control problem from a previous shutdown persists, Xinhua said.

A Sina Weibo blog under the name 'Jade Rabbit Moon Rover', which has published updates on the rover's progress in the first person, posted the message "Good night" on Sunday, following it up with, "I broke many little companions' hearts before I went to sleep the last time. I shall fall asleep happily this time."

The unverified account, which Xinhua said was "believed to belong to space enthusiasts who have been following [the probe's] journey to the moon", the posted a picture of the rover in hibernation mode and a sleepy face made up of smiley emoticons.

China moonrover #Yutu snaps Chang'e-3 before its 3rd dormancy. Mechanical issues remain unresolved pic.twitter.com/Fp99F03bdS

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 23, 2014

A short time later the account was inundated with responses from online users. "Good night. Don't sleep in this time," wrote one, referring to an earlier breakdown. "Can you set up an alarm clock and wake up on time this time?" wrote another.

The Jade Rabbit has become a national sensation since the Chang'e-3 made a successful soft landing on the moon in December.

Last month a 'mechanical abnormality' caused the probe to go into hibernation while scientists frantically tried to get it back online, sparking an outpouring of grief on the internet.

The rover eventually showed signs of life and "woke up" on February 13 before continuing to explore and sending data back to Earth showing many instruments were functioning properly, Xinhua said.

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