WHAT’S INSIDE A LUNAR CAVE?
How China’s ‘Jade Rabbit’ rover is exploring the subterranean world of Earth’s cosmic companion
WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD
The first spacecraft to land on the far side of the Moon,
China’s Yutu-2 rover, is still exploring the lunar terrain
since its historic landing in 2019. Yutu-2, which translates to ‘Jade Rabbit’, journeyed to the Moon as part of the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) Chang’e 4 mission. The rover arrived at the Moon’s Von Kármán crater, near its south pole, via the CNSA lander. From the far side of the Moon, direct radio communication between the rover and mission control on Earth is tricky. Without the help of a relay satellite called Queqiao – or ‘Magpie Bridge’ – in a ‘halo’ orbit of the Moon, the rover wouldn’t be able to send data and images back to Earth. This is because the far side of the Moon never faces Earth.