Chinese netizens yesterday flooded the country’s social media networks with condolences for the troubled Jade Rabbit moon rover, which experienced a “mechanical control abnormality” over the weekend.
State media on Saturday reported that the country’s first moon rover had run into trouble due to “the complicated lunar surface environment.”
By yesterday afternoon, “Jade Rabbit lunar rover” had shot to the top of the most-searched terms list on microblogging site Sina Weibo.
“Little bunny, we’re praying for you!” one netizen wrote.
“In space exploration, there’s great beauty, but there’s also great difficulty,” wrote another. “I hope one day you will be resurrected.”
The Jade Rabbit, or Yutu (玉兔) in Chinese, was deployed on the moon’s surface on Dec. 15 last year, several hours after the Chang’e-3 probe landed.
Xinhua news agency, which broke the news of the rover’s troubles, published a “first-person account” from Yutu that seemed geared toward softening the blow. The account appears to have been based on a posting by Weibo user “Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover,” an unverified account Xinhua said is “believed to belong to space enthusiasts who have been following Yutu’s journey to the moon.”
“The bad news is, I was supposed to go to sleep this morning, but before I went to sleep, my masters found some mechanical control abnormalities,” the posting read. “I originally thought I could hop around up here for three months, but if this trip is to end prematurely, I’m not afraid. Whether or not they can fix me, I know that my breakdown can provide my masters with a lot of valuable information and experience.”
“The sun here has fallen, and the temperature is dropping fast. I’ve said a lot today, but I still feel it’s not enough. I’ll tell everyone a little secret. I’m actually not that sad. I’m just in my own adventure story and like any protagonist, I encountered a bit of a problem. Goodnight, Earth. Goodnight, humans,” it concluded.
More than 6,000 Internet users have written messages in response, many of them expressing hope that the rover has not seen its last.
“We’ll always remember that you’re watching us on the moon,” one microblogger wrote. “One day, we’ll bring you home.”
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