China’s troubled Jade Rabbit rover has started its third, and potentially final, snooze on the moon. The crippled rover has been stuck in its place due to an mechanical problem that occurred at the end of January. A photo from the rover showing a portion of the Chang'e 3 lunar lander was circulated on Twitter over the weekend with the caption ‘zZZ’. This photo from the rover showing a portion of the Chang'e 3 lunar lander was circulated on Twitter over the weekend . The state-run Xinhua news service's Twitter account added that Yutu's mechanical problems remained unresolved. Two weeks ago, China restored communications with the Jade Rabbit moon rover, but engineers are still working to fix its mechanical problems, state media said. The official Xinhua News Agency cited Pei Zhaoyu, the lunar probe programme's spokesman, as saying the rover had survived the frigid cold of the moon's nights. The Jade Rabbit rover is designed to roam the lunar surface for three months while surveying for natural resources and sending back data. After five months stranded on the moon, China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover is still alive and functional. Chinese state media said on yesterday that technical problems and bitterly cold lunar nights have 'weakened considerably' the buggy's ability to operate . But it ran into problems in January it was shutting down in preparation for the lunar night, which lasts two weeks. The problems were a rare setback for China, which in recent years has conducted space walks and placed a space station in orbit. Last month, China's Jade Rabbit Moon rover was . declared dead on the Moon's surface in a major setback for the country's . ambitious space programme. The potential to extract the moon's resources has been touted as a key reason behind Beijing's space programme. The . moon is believed to hold uranium, titanium, and other mineral . resources, as well as offering the possibility of solar power . generation. 'China wants to . go to the moon for geostrategic reasons and domestic legitimacy,' said . China space expert Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of national security . affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. 'With . the U.S. exploration moribund at best, that opens a window for China to . be perceived as the global technology leader - though the U.S. still . has more, and more advanced, assets in space. 'The landing was a . key step forward in Beijing's ambitious military-run space programme, . which include plans for a permanent orbiting station by 2020 and . eventually sending a human to the moon. But Pei said the rover had 'come back to life' soon after despite space experts' earlier concerns that it might not survive the extremely low temperatures of the lunar night, when the temperature drops to -180ºC (-292°F). 'The rover stands a chance of being saved now that it is still alive,' Pei was quoted as saying. He said it was still unclear what caused the problem. The mission is proving a popular success for China's military-backed space programme. Updates about the rover's progress have been posted on an unofficial Chinese microblog account written with Jade Rabbit's 'voice', attracting tens of thousands of comments by Chinese Internet users. The Jade Rabbit, or Yutu in Chinese, was deployed on the moon on December 15 and was a huge source of pride in China, which is only the third country to complete a lunar rover mission after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The silver rover experienced a 'mechanical control abnormality' late January due to 'the complicated lunar surface environment', according to the official Xinhua news agency, and has been unable to function since then. Condolences poured in on Weibo, China's Twitter-like service, where Internet users mourned the demise of the rover, according to China News Service's report titled 'Loss of lunar rover'. The Jade Rabbit rover had previously sent back its first pictures from the moon and officials lauded the first lunar soft landing in nearly four decades as a step forward for 'mankind as a whole'. 'Exploration of outer space is an unremitting pursuit of mankind,' China's space agency, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said after the rover was deployed on the moon. The mission reflects 'the new glory of China to scale the peaks in world science and technology areas,' it said, adding it was committed to exploring and using space 'for peaceful purposes'. The lunar mission, which comes a decade after China first sent an astronaut into space, is seen as a symbol of the country's rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once-impoverished nation. Beijing plans to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send a human to the moon. The sky over the moon appears inky black in this picture showing the Jade Rabbit rover trundling across the lunar surface taken from the Chang'e 3 lander . The potential to extract the moon's resources has been touted as a key reason behind Beijing's space programme, as the moon believed to hold uranium, titanium, and other mineral resources, as well as offering the possibility of solar power generation. The six-wheeled Yutu vehicle began operating last month after making the first soft landing on the moon by a space probe in 37 years. It is designed to roam the lunar surface for three months while surveying for natural resources and sending back data, along with its stationary lander, Chang'e 3. A digitally-combined panoramic photo shows the moonscape around the Yutu - Jade Rabbit - moon rover . Over 150,000 people follow the rover's progress on its microblog, which posted last month that repairs were underway and that all hope was not lost. ‘Sorry to make you all sad. The engineers and I haven't given up yet,’ the post said. News of the rover's troubles were splashed across Chinese newspapers and even featured at the Foreign Ministry's daily briefing. The problems appeared to be related to the solar-powered probe's process for shutting down for the lunar night, which lasts more than two weeks. The probe had survived its first shutdown, during which it was unable to generate energy from its solar panels and relies on a radioactive power source to keep its delicate sensors and other equipment intact. The rover was traversing a relatively flat part of the moon known as Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, at a speed of 200 yards per hour. The landing vehicle, which has already shut down for the lunar night, is designed to conduct scientific examinations for one year. Online speculation focused on the possibility of lunar dust having blocked one of the solar panels from folding inward, leaving equipment exposed to the dangerously low temperatures. It will not be known if the probe is able to function again until after the two-week break. Chinese scientists test the moon rover ahead of its launch. The six-wheeled Yutu vehicle began operating last month after making the first soft landing on the moon by a space probe in 37 years .
Rover's process for shutting down for the night malfunctioned in January .
The damaged rover is now entering its third sleep cycle on the moon .
A lunar night lasts two weeks and temperatures can drop to minus 180°C .
Lunar dust may have blocked one of the solar panels from folding inward, leaving equipment exposed to the dangerously low temperatures .
Scientists won't know if probe will work until after the two-week period .
China’s troubled Jade Rabbit rover has started its third, and potentially final, snooze on the moon. The crippled rover has been stuck in its place due to an mechanical problem that occurred at the end of January. A photo from the rover showing a portion of the Chang'e 3 lunar lander was circulated on Twitter over the weekend with the caption ‘zZZ’. This photo from the rover showing a portion of the Chang'e 3 lunar lander was circulated on Twitter over the weekend . The state-run Xinhua news service's Twitter account added that Yutu's mechanical problems remained unresolved. Two weeks ago, China restored communications with the Jade Rabbit moon rover, but engineers are still working to fix its mechanical problems, state media said. The official Xinhua News Agency cited Pei Zhaoyu, the lunar probe programme's spokesman, as saying the rover had survived the frigid cold of the moon's nights. The Jade Rabbit rover is designed to roam the lunar surface for three months while surveying for natural resources and sending back data. After five months stranded on the moon, China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover is still alive and functional. Chinese state media said on yesterday that technical problems and bitterly cold lunar nights have 'weakened considerably' the buggy's ability to operate . But it ran into problems in January it was shutting down in preparation for the lunar night, which lasts two weeks. The problems were a rare setback for China, which in recent years has conducted space walks and placed a space station in orbit. Last month, China's Jade Rabbit Moon rover was . declared dead on the Moon's surface in a major setback for the country's . ambitious space programme. The potential to extract the moon's resources has been touted as a key reason behind Beijing's space programme. The . moon is believed to hold uranium, titanium, and other mineral . resources, as well as offering the possibility of solar power . generation. 'China wants to . go to the moon for geostrategic reasons and domestic legitimacy,' said . China space expert Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of national security . affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. 'With . the U.S. exploration moribund at best, that opens a window for China to . be perceived as the global technology leader - though the U.S. still . has more, and more advanced, assets in space. 'The landing was a . key step forward in Beijing's ambitious military-run space programme, . which include plans for a permanent orbiting station by 2020 and . eventually sending a human to the moon. But Pei said the rover had 'come back to life' soon after despite space experts' earlier concerns that it might not survive the extremely low temperatures of the lunar night, when the temperature drops to -180ºC (-292°F). 'The rover stands a chance of being saved now that it is still alive,' Pei was quoted as saying. He said it was still unclear what caused the problem. The mission is proving a popular success for China's military-backed space programme. Updates about the rover's progress have been posted on an unofficial Chinese microblog account written with Jade Rabbit's 'voice', attracting tens of thousands of comments by Chinese Internet users. The Jade Rabbit, or Yutu in Chinese, was deployed on the moon on December 15 and was a huge source of pride in China, which is only the third country to complete a lunar rover mission after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The silver rover experienced a 'mechanical control abnormality' late January due to 'the complicated lunar surface environment', according to the official Xinhua news agency, and has been unable to function since then. Condolences poured in on Weibo, China's Twitter-like service, where Internet users mourned the demise of the rover, according to China News Service's report titled 'Loss of lunar rover'. The Jade Rabbit rover had previously sent back its first pictures from the moon and officials lauded the first lunar soft landing in nearly four decades as a step forward for 'mankind as a whole'. 'Exploration of outer space is an unremitting pursuit of mankind,' China's space agency, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said after the rover was deployed on the moon. The mission reflects 'the new glory of China to scale the peaks in world science and technology areas,' it said, adding it was committed to exploring and using space 'for peaceful purposes'. The lunar mission, which comes a decade after China first sent an astronaut into space, is seen as a symbol of the country's rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once-impoverished nation. Beijing plans to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send a human to the moon. The sky over the moon appears inky black in this picture showing the Jade Rabbit rover trundling across the lunar surface taken from the Chang'e 3 lander . The potential to extract the moon's resources has been touted as a key reason behind Beijing's space programme, as the moon believed to hold uranium, titanium, and other mineral resources, as well as offering the possibility of solar power generation. The six-wheeled Yutu vehicle began operating last month after making the first soft landing on the moon by a space probe in 37 years. It is designed to roam the lunar surface for three months while surveying for natural resources and sending back data, along with its stationary lander, Chang'e 3. A digitally-combined panoramic photo shows the moonscape around the Yutu - Jade Rabbit - moon rover . Over 150,000 people follow the rover's progress on its microblog, which posted last month that repairs were underway and that all hope was not lost. ‘Sorry to make you all sad. The engineers and I haven't given up yet,’ the post said. News of the rover's troubles were splashed across Chinese newspapers and even featured at the Foreign Ministry's daily briefing. The problems appeared to be related to the solar-powered probe's process for shutting down for the lunar night, which lasts more than two weeks. The probe had survived its first shutdown, during which it was unable to generate energy from its solar panels and relies on a radioactive power source to keep its delicate sensors and other equipment intact. The rover was traversing a relatively flat part of the moon known as Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, at a speed of 200 yards per hour. The landing vehicle, which has already shut down for the lunar night, is designed to conduct scientific examinations for one year. Online speculation focused on the possibility of lunar dust having blocked one of the solar panels from folding inward, leaving equipment exposed to the dangerously low temperatures. It will not be known if the probe is able to function again until after the two-week break. Chinese scientists test the moon rover ahead of its launch. The six-wheeled Yutu vehicle began operating last month after making the first soft landing on the moon by a space probe in 37 years .
third, and potentially final, snooze on the moon. problems in January it was shutting down in preparation for the lunar night, which lasts two the solar-powered probe's process for shutting two weeks. The probe had survived its first blocked one of the solar panels from folding inward, leaving equipment exposed to the dangerously low temperatures. It will not be until after the two-week break. Chinese