Chinese Lunokhod - serious problems

Just the other day, Chinese media reported that the Jade Rabbit, the Chinese Yutu lunar rover, had serious problems. At first, it was only said that the problems arose due to the "complex relief of the moon's surface." That is, it was not clear what could have happened - the chassis “flew”, or the lunar rover failed somewhere.

Now the situation has cleared up, Chinese experts said that the rover has "problems with mechanical movement control." The problem arose in the sixth week of the lunar rover's stay on the lunar surface.

The problem itself is that one of the solar panels of the lunar rover did not form properly, as a result of which this panel did not get into the heated compartment, which maintains the temperature of the critical systems of the lunar rover during a moonlit night (information about the breakdown came from unofficial sources). Officially, it is only reported that the Lunokhod has "problems with mechanical control of movement."

It is worth recalling that the lunar rover (and the lander) work only during the so-called lunar day, when solar radiation heats the surface of the moon (and the rover).

The lunar day lasts two weeks, after which there comes a moonlit night of the same duration. At this time, the temperature drops to minus 180 degrees Celsius, and the lunar rover with the landing module go into hibernation mode. Important systems of the lunar rover are heated at this time (to minus 40 Celsius) by a radioisotope source.

If there is no heating, then the lunar rover, or certain important (critical) systems, can fail during a moonlit night. And just now the “night period” has come, and it is not clear whether Chinese experts have coped with the problem of an improperly built solar battery. The lunar rover itself went into hibernation on January 25th, and the lander - on the 24th.

So we can only get some news on February 8 or 9, after the onset of a lunar day, followed by an increase in the surface temperature of the moon.

Via universetoday