China's First Lunar Rover is Experiencing Mechanical Problems

China's first lunar rover, Yutu, began operating last month but is already having mechanical issues. The first space probe to softly land on the moon in 37 years, the rover may just end its space mission before it really begins.

Along with its stationary lander, Chang'e 3, Yutu's mission is to roam the lunar surface for three months while searching for natural resources. It's also scheduled to send back data to the Chinese space program. The mission has garnered a lot of attention. In fact, Yutu has attracted more than 150,000 followers on its microblog.

Unfortunately, it seems like Yutu has run into a few problems. Last Saturday the blog notified its readers that Yutu was undergoing repairs and would hopefully get back on track.

The mechanical problems occurred while the probe shut down during the lunar night. Since Yutu is solar powered, it has been having difficulties during this most recent, two-week lunar night. The temperature on the moon during this recent time period dropped to minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit.

Despite having survived its first lunar night shutdown, Yutu has had difficulties this time around. It's been unable to generate energy from its solar panels. Instead, it relies on a radioactive power source to keep everything intact while it is shut down. Yet the 300-pound rover hasn't had such past success.

It is believed that lunar dust was blocking one of the solar panels from folding inward, which left some of the rover's equipment exposed to the extremely low temperatures. Most are uncertain whether or not Yutu will be able to operate after the recent two-week lunar night.

Yutu has been traveling across a part of the moon known as Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, which is a flat surface area. If it manages to operate when the lunar night concludes, it will continue at its 200-yard-per-hour trek while providing the Chinese space program with further information. More information can be found in this Fox News article.