HELSINKI -- China's Yutu-2 rover, part of the first mission to land on the moon's far side, may have made its final tracks, according to images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
The Chang'e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover were launched in late 2018, successfully landing in Von Kármán crater on January 3, 2019. Recent reports indicate that Yutu-2 has traveled a total of 1,613 meters, but it appears to have remained stationary since March 2024.
Phil Stooke, Professor Emeritus at the University of Western Ontario, noted that LRO images reveal minimal movement from the rover over the past year. Initially, Yutu-2 covered 7 to 8 meters per drive, but this decreased to just 1 or 2 meters by March 2024.
Despite still being operational as of September 2024, there are concerns about the rover's mobility. Stooke speculated that earlier slowdowns were linked to issues with the Queqiao relay satellite, which was low on fuel. Although a new relay satellite was launched to support the Chang'e-6 mission, Yutu-2's pace has not improved.
The rover has faced challenges due to the harsh lunar environment, including extreme temperatures and abrasive regolith. Yutu-2, which has exceeded its original three-month design lifetime, has set a record as the longest-lived lunar rover, surpassing the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1.
During its mission, Yutu-2 has made significant discoveries, including materials potentially from the moon's mantle and insights into the composition of the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The mission has also laid the groundwork for the upcoming Chang'e-6 sample return mission.
China's lunar exploration program includes plans for the Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 missions, set to launch in 2026 and 2028, respectively. These missions will serve as precursors to an International Lunar Research Station, with aspirations to land astronauts on the moon before 2030.