...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Space Careers

Products  Product List

Displaying items by tag: Yutu rover

Saturday, 14 December 2013 14:26

Chang'e-3 mission

Chang'e 3  is a lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration, incorporating a robotic lander and a rover. Chang'e 3 was launched in December 2013 as part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

It is China's first lunar rover. 

The spacecraft is named after Chang'e, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology, and is a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 lunar orbiters.

The lunar rover is called Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, a name selected in an online poll that comes from a Chinese myth about a white rabbit that lives on the Moon as a pet of the moon goddess Chang'e. 

It achieved lunar orbit on 6 December 2013, and landed on 14 December at 13:11 UTC, becoming the first object to soft-land on the moon since Luna 24 in 1976.

Published in Projects
Saturday, 14 December 2013 14:18

Yutu rover

Yutu is a Chinese lunar rover which forms part of the Chang'e 3 mission to the Moon.

Launched on 1 December 2013, and landed on 14 December 2013. If successful it will be the first rover to operate on the Moon since Lunokhod 2 ceased operations in May 1973.

The official mission objective is to achieve China's first soft-landing and roving exploration on the Moon, as well as to develop and analyze key technological developments.

(Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, was a name selected in an online poll; it is a Chinese myth about a white pet rabbit of the Moon goddess Chang'e.)

Published in Projects

Latest News ...

Kazakhstan denies reports Russia to leave Baikonur spaceport...
Astana, Kazakhstan (AFP) May 15, 2025 Kazakhstan said Thursday there were no talks on Russia givi...

Read more

System glitch delays Australian-made rocket launch
Sydney (AFP) May 15, 2025 An Australian aerospace firm said Thursday it has delayed a historic fi...

Read more

NASA's Voyager 1 Revives Backup Thrusters Before Command...
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 15, 2025 The mission team wanted to fix the thrusters, deemed unusable deca...

Read more

China completes testing of powerful reusable liquid rocket...
Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 14, 2025 China has successfully completed full-scale testing of a 140...

Read more

New Study Reveals Record-Breaking Solar Storm from 12,350...
Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 15, 2025 Scientists have identified the most intense solar particle sto...

Read more

BlackSky Secures Early Access Agreements for Gen-3 Satellite...
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 14, 2025 BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has signed early access a...

Read more

Dark Matter Origin Linked to High-Energy Particle Collisions...
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025 A new theory from Dartmouth College researchers suggests that d...

Read more

Ramon.Space Secures Eutelsat OneWeb Contract for Advanced Digital...
London, UK (SPX) May 15, 2025 Ramon.Space has secured a contract from Eutelsat to provide onboard...

Read more

SES to Provide Advanced Hybrid Space Network for...
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 14, 2025 SES Space and Defense, a subsidiary of SES, has been selected t...

Read more