China's first lunar rover, Yutu, which has been operating on the Moon for almost two years, has set the record for the longest stay by a rover on the lunar surface, scientists said today.
Yutu, which was deployed on the Moon by China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe in 2013, has stayed longer than the Soviet Union's 1970 rover Lunokhod 1, which spent 11 months on the Moon, according to Ye Peijian, chief scientist with China's Chang'e-3 programme.
In 2014, Yutu experienced a mechanical control abnormality, but it was revived within a month.
Though the rover is unable to move, it continues to collect data, send and receive signals, and record images and videos, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China launched its manned space programme in the 1990s and successfully sent Yang Liwei, the country's first astronaut, into orbit on the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft in 2003.
Chang'e-3 delivered the rover and a stationary lander to the lunar surface in 2013, making China the third country after the Soviet Union and the US to carry out such a mission.
China is planning to be the first country to land a lunar probe on the far side of the Moon, or "dark side of the Moon," which is never visible to Earth.
According to Ye, the mission will be carried out by Chang'e-4, a backup probe for Chang'e-3.
