Thousands of Chinese netizens flooded social media with expressions of support and concern for China's lunar rover, Yutu or Jade Rabbit, after it was reported to have experienced some mechanical problems.
An unusual mechanical problem was experienced by Yutu due to the "complicated lunar surface environment," said China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) on Saturday. Yutu is now undergoing repair.
Netizens voiced their concern and worry, while also lauding the authority's transparency regarding the incident. By Sunday afternoon, "yueqiucheyutu", the Yutu account on SinaWeibo, Twitter's counterpart in China, already had over 36,000 reposts. Space enthusiasts who have been closely monitoring Yutu's mission in the moon are believed to be behind the weibo account. More than 110,000 netizens follow this account.
In the weibo account, "NASAzhongwen" or "Chinese NASA", a netizen posted a message on SinaWeibo, telling Yutu to get well soon. Yutu experienced a mechanical control problem just before it was to start its second period of dormancy during the 14-day lunar night. Temperature in the moon during this period dives to below minus 180 degrees Celsius.
Yutu has so far gathered scientific information via its radar, panoramic camera, a particle X-ray apparatus and infrared imaging device, according to the SASTIND.
The lunar rover was due to stay on the lunar surface for a minimum of three months after it was detached from the Chang'e-3 probe that landed on the moon's surface on Dec. 14.
Jan. 25 is also the 10th anniversary of the landing on Mars of the rover "Opportunity".