A mysterious "moon hut" spotted by China's lunar Yutu 2 rover is actually … an adorable rabbit-shaped rock.
The rock has been nicknamed "jade rabbit" by the Yutu 2 team, which announced its rover's closer inspection of the object on Friday (Jan. 7). The nickname is apt, as the rover's name, Yutu, also translates to "jade rabbit."
The object first appeared in the field of view of Yutu 2's cameras in December, when it looked like a cube-shaped blur on the horizon. The rover is the first to explore the moon's far side, which always faces away from Earth and is more rugged and pitted by craters than the moon's near side. Because the object appeared irregularly symmetrical, with a strange flat top, researchers with the China National Space Administration outreach program Our Space joked that it might be the hut of alien pioneers, Live Science previously reported.
Credit : LiveScience
