A picture of a cube-shaped object, taken by a Chinese rover across from Takes, fueled speculation and inspired a string of memes on Chinese social media.
Nosso Espaço, a Chinese government science website, said Yutu-2 took a picture of what appears to be a large cubic object on the horizon about 80 meters from its location. The portal says that the last registration of the rover took place on December 3.
With the hashtag “Ytu’s Last Discovery,” memes show the rover advancing across the plain of the Moon toward a pair of obelisks, a monolith, and even a giant hammer and sickle – a symbol Communist Party.
“It’s space junk I left United StateOne Chinese netizen wrote in a post on the networks.
Another replied: “Come a little closer, and you will see that it is a testing site for Covid-19.” “It’s the house of aliens,” said a third, in a tone of mock horror.
Others have suggested a more mundane possibility: to be just a rock.
The solar-powered Yutu, or “Jade Rabbit” in Chinese, will cover 80 meters in two to three lunar days (two to three months on Earth), Nosso Espaço says.
The robotic craft has been operating in the Von Karmann Crater in the Antarctic-Aitken Basin since its January 2019 deployment.
The mission is historic, as no country has managed to land on the far side of the moon yet.
With the Moon “closed” to Earth – orbiting at the same speed as it orbits our planet – most of its “dark side” is never visible to anyone on Earth.
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