China’s lunar rover, Jade Rabbit, may have bit the lunar dust.
Chinese state media first reported a problem with the rover on January 25. Several other Chinese sources have since speculated that one of Jade Rabbit’s solar panels did not fold in properly to protect the rover’s electronics from a “night” on the moon.
A lunar night lasts a little more than two weeks, and temperatures can drop as low as -180 degrees Celsius. If the electronics are exposed to such cold temperatures, they will break, leaving the rover inoperable.
Scientists will be able to confirm the rover’s status in roughly two weeks.