I found it quite appropriate that the referenced CBC article referred to it as a moon "buggy."
More seriously, I'm excited to see more countries, and more people in general, involved in space exploration.
I also think that instead of pointing to the rover's failure, we shout point to its success: Launching a rover to the moon and getting it to work in any way, shape, or form, is a pretty amazing triumph. Sure, the US did it several decades ago, but not all NASA missions were successful, and it's to be expected that you need a few iterations to get the bugs out.
Let's not bury Yutu alive in our haste to eulogize it. The rover is awake and transmitting. Lot of news sites have been reporting on news from many many hours ago. My guess is the mechanical error interfered with the solar intake and delayed the power-on process.
Comments
I found it quite appropriate that the referenced CBC article referred to it as a moon "buggy."
More seriously, I'm excited to see more countries, and more people in general, involved in space exploration.
I also think that instead of pointing to the rover's failure, we shout point to its success: Launching a rover to the moon and getting it to work in any way, shape, or form, is a pretty amazing triumph. Sure, the US did it several decades ago, but not all NASA missions were successful, and it's to be expected that you need a few iterations to get the bugs out.
Let's not bury Yutu alive in our haste to eulogize it. The rover is awake and transmitting. Lot of news sites have been reporting on news from many many hours ago. My guess is the mechanical error interfered with the solar intake and delayed the power-on process.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-02/13/c_133111283...
To be fair that's also what the US called the Lunar Rover:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Roving_Vehicle