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Jade Rabbit lunar rover

Jade Rabbit lunar rover
China's Jade Rabbit - or Yutu - rover is the first vehicle to land on the Moon in almost 40 years. The Chang'e-3 mission blasted off from Xichang in southern China on December 1, 2013, and landed on the Moon’s surface on December 14. Developed by Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute and Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, the lunar rover was designed to explore an area of 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) during its 3-month mission.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the US flag on the moon in 1969. The US is now in talks with China about how to protect it and other traces of the Apollo 11 mission. Photo: AFP
Science

US and China talking about how to preserve first footprint on the moon

The US began discussions about protecting ‘relics’ from the Apollo 11 mission after Chinese lunar rovers started operating, state TV told.

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China's space programme

China’s great leap moonward

Science

Countdown starts for China’s Chang’e 6 sample mission to far side of moon

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Science

Beleaguered Peregrine mission could put US behind China in moon race: expert

It may be a good idea to test out propulsion and lander technologies first in space, author and space policy expert at Arizona State University says.

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Peregrine is the first in a string of moon missions, established under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Programme as a partnership between Nasa and space companies in the US. Photo: AFP
Science

China’s lunar base: major African nation joins international moon project

Analysts say China gains access to African space market and Cairo firms up relationship with Beijing while moving closer to having Egyptian walk on the moon.

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China’s military

Removal of China’s defence minister ends Li Shangfu’s stratospheric career

Li, 65, was a stalwart of China’s aerospace programme before appointment as defence minister in March, making global headlines as the country’s first defence minister on a US sanction list.

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Science

China launches road map for exploring solar system’s resources

Around 122 asteroids near Earth are economically suitable for mining and use, says project scientist Wang Wei.

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With its new road map, China has an eye to an era in which technology allows space resources to be exploited and when nations are competing for those economic gains. Image: Shutterstock/Nasa
Science

Could this folding buggy be destined for China’s future lunar base?

The Cubic Emergency Lunar Vehicle of China can be folded and tucked into the back of a regular roving vehicle and when in use can travel up to 10km/h on the moon’s surface, say researchers.

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English Premier League

Manchester City Lunar New Year kit inspired by China’s Jade Rabbit moon mission

Puma collection honours successful mission of China’s Lunar rover, the Jade Rabbit in 2013.

China's space programme

From ISS rival to sea rocket launcher: 4 Chinese space targets for 2022

China has big ambitions relating to the moon and Mars projects for 2022 and it has six launches planned to expand the Tiangong space station.

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China’s Tiangong Space Station is key to its space ambitions and its space rivalry with the US. Illustration: Weibo
China's space programme

China’s lunar rover is on a mission to investigate mystery object on moon

Yutu 2 mission team notices ‘mystery hut’ while examining series of images taken by the rover, according to Chinese space media outlet

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The mission crew controlling the Chinese lunar rover, Yutu 2, has discovered a “mystery hut”, a cube-shaped object on the far side of the moon. Photo: Weibo
Science

Chinese lunar ambitions soar 50 years after moon landing

As world remembers Neil Armstrong’s historic small step, Chinese scientists outline great leap for their space programme.

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Science

China’s lunar rover ends 60-year riddle of moon’s mantle

Yutu’s discovery of olivine helps pave the way for scientists to confirm existence of a mantle beneath satellite’s crust.

China technology

The symbolism and meanings behind Chinese tech names

Despite the global ambition of China and its tech giants, some of their most important companies and projects are still named in Chinese and spelled in pinyin.

Chang’e is a Moon goddess in Chinese legend, a central character in the annual Mid-Autumn or Moon festival. Her companion is Yutu, the Jade Rabbit. Photo: Undated Handout.
Lunar New Year

Postcards from the moon

China’s Chang’e-3 lander captured this image with Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT/ CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, CHINA NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION / THE SCIENCE AND APPLICATION CENTER FOR MOON AND DEEPSPACE EXPLORATION/EMILY LAKDAWALLA)

China releases new pictures showing stunning details of moon’s surface

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover was crippled by a rock, experts reveal

The Chinese lunar rover likely became crippled after hitting a rock while it navigated difficult terrain, according to a senior mainland scientist involved in the investigation into the breakdown.

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Last-ditch efforts to salvage mission of China's stricken Jade Rabbit lunar rover

Engineers are desperately trying to revive China's crippled lunar rover Jade Rabbit as fears grow that its mission could be over.

Jade Rabbit starts work on the surface of the moon. Photo: AP

New | China’s Jade Rabbit moon rover goes into hibernation again to survive lunar freeze

‘It came back to life’: China’s Jade Rabbit snaps out of silence but mechanical kinks remain

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Actor Patrick Stewart plays dying moon rover on US late-night show

US talk shows have seized upon the stories released by Xinhua that update the public on the malfunctioning lunar rover. The "dispatches" are written in the first person, and are intended to appear as if the Jade Rabbit writes them.

Patrick Stewart as the lunar rover. Photo: SCMP

Success and failure: two sides of the same coin for China's space mission

Failure is not a word Beijing takes lightly. Driven by a desire to become a superpower and with the world watching its every move, success in all endeavours is expected. The breakdown of the nation's first moon rover, Jade Rabbit, just halfway through its three-month mission, therefore risks being perceived negatively. If scientists are unable to make repairs, it could well be written off as a blot on the space programme.

Jade Rabbit moon rover during Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission's first lunar day circle. Photo: Xinhua

Jade Rabbit moon rover may be beyond repair, state media hints

Scientists may not be able to repair China's lunar rover, Jade Rabbit, that has broken down on the surface of the moon, a report on state media suggested. The report from Xinhua, written as if it sent by the rover itself, said the problems could prove insoluble.

Update | Beijing, we have a problem: China's first moon rover Jade Rabbit breaks down

China's first lunar rover, the Jade Rabbit, appears to have broken down halfway through its three-month mission to the moon. Jade Rabbit experienced a "mechanical control abnormality" and scientists were examining the best ways to carry out repairs, Xinhua reported.

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New | Moon landing ‘100pc made in China’, says Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping delivers speaks to space scientists and engineers at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Monday. Screenshot from CCTV

Hong Kong's Chang'e-3 hero tells young people to reach for the stars

"Be ambitious. Follow your dreams." This is the advice given to young people by Polytechnic University professor Yung Kai-leung, who has become a bit of a star himself after China's latest moon exploration mission adopted a gadget he developed.

Professor Yung Kai-leung with his Camera Pointing System, which has proved instrumental to China's lunar landing. Photo: Dickson Lee

New | China to launch lunar rock-collecting probe by 2017

Wu Zhijun, a spokesman for the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, told a press conference in Beijing on Monday that the Chang’e-5 mission would be launched in four years’ time.

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Hong Kong-developed camera system ‘working well’ on Chang’e-3

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