Jade Rabbit (Yutu) has landed on the moon

[laohuaqiao]

China says it has successfully landed a craft carrying a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, a major step in its programme of space exploration.

On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module underwent a powered descent, using thrusters to perform the first soft landing on the Moon in 37 years.

Several hours later, the lander will deploy a robotic rover called Yutu, which translates as "Jade Rabbit".

The touchdown took place on a flat plain called Sinus Iridum.

The mission launched on a Chinese-developed Long March 3B rocket on 1 December from Xichang in the country's south.

The Chang'e-3 craft began its descent just after 1300 GMT (2100 Beijing time), with state television showing pictures of the moon's surface as the lander touched down.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25356603

[laohuaqiao]

As to the names of the spacecraft and robotic rover, Chang'e 嫦娥 is the legendary Chinese beauty living on the moon and Yutu 玉兔 is her pet companion.

This was the exchange between Johnson Space Center and Apollo 11 moon landing:

Command Center: Roger. Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning, there's one
asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a
beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-o has been living there for 4000 years. It seems
she was banished to the Moon because she stole the pill of immortality from her
husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is
easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a
cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not reported.

Apollo 11: Okay. We'll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.

[laohuaqiao]

And, if we let our imagination flow a bit, this could be the beginning of a new era. Centuries from now, someone on the moon could be searching for information, contemplating on a long journey to earth, specifically to visit his/her ancestral village in a region called Siyi.

[douglaslam]

Well said laohuaqiao. Yutu or Jade Rabbit has a particular emotional appeal to the older generations who followed the space program. People of my vintage were brought up reading and listening to tales, watching Cantonese movies on the Moon fairy and her Palace. Chang'e and her Yutu are embedded in our indelible microchip within. It is so fitting to have Chang Er and her Jade Rabbit together. It is not mere technological wonders at play. It is a cultural thing.