Wednesday marked a day of reminiscing and farewells, after Chinese state media revealed that the Jade Rabbit lunar rover finally went dark after a record 31 months of collecting data from the moon's surface.
The rover arrived on the moon on Dec.14, 2013, aboard the Chang'e 3 lunar lander. It was designed to operate for only three months, and early indicators suggested that it would not even last that long, but it beat the odds and lasted for an impressive 972 days — far surpassing the 322 by the former Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 in 1970.
That record streak came to an end on July 28, when Chang'e 3 went into hibernation for the 14-day lunar night and Jade Rabbit ceased operations, state media reported, citing the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
Ever since landing on the moon, Jade Rabbit, or Yutu in Chinese, has been hugely popular across the region, posting all sorts of messages on its Twitter-like Weibo microblog. It posted one such message four days ago that has since gained nearly 100,000 shares, likes and comments, when it bid farewell to all of its fans who supported it throughout the years.
"The moon says it has prepared a long, long dream for me, and I'm wondering what the dream would be like — would I be a [M]ars explorer, or be sent back to [E]arth?" the lunar rover continued.
However, whether or not the lunar rover is truly gone remains a point of contention, since this isn't the first time the rover has seemingly shut down. Several weeks after the rover landed, engineers thought the rover was lost after it shut down due to mechanical difficulties. Fortunately, it "woke" just two hours later, posting the greeting: "Hi, anybody there?"
With that incident in mind, some fans were still not ready to move forward just yet: "Please, never say farewell, just say 'see you later,'" said user Luojiahuanghou.
Regardless of whether its fans are ready to move forward, however, the state already has its next big plans already in motion. Next year, China will attempt to land an unmanned spaceship on the moon that would return to Earth with samples — a feat accomplished only by the United States and Russia thus far.
In addition, China has hinted at a possible crewed mission to the moon.
China might be late to the party, only sending out its first astronaut into space in 2003, but its space program has made great strides since then, such as with the deployment of an experimental space station.
