(Our Space/CNSA)
There is something strange in Lunar Quarter.
While exploring the Von Kármán crater on the far side of the moon, the Chinese 2 rover Yutu spotted a peculiar-object on the horizon. In a very blurry image, it appears to be a cube-shaped protrusion in an otherwise relatively indescribable landscape.
In an article published on the Weixin social network, the China’s National Space Administration’s Our space outreach program called it a “mystery hut.”
“Was it a house built by aliens after crash landing?” the post jokingly speculates. “Or is it the pioneering spacecraft of the predecessors to explore the Moon?”
The answer is probably none of those things, but something we know the Moon has in abundance: rocks. We won’t know for sure, however, until Yutu 2 can intervening 80 meters (260 feet) distance to study it. closely – a process that will take another 2 or 3 months.
That partially because the solar-powered rover has to shut down for the duration of the lunar night, which lasts two weeks, and also when the sun is directly over-head, to avoid overheating; & partially because the rover has to travel slowly, navigating dangerous rubble-strewn & crater pocked lunar terrain.
Although we had to wait, there are indications that offer possible suggestions for the identity of the cube – namely a relatively new impact crater nearby. This suggests that the object could be a boulder excavated on impact, a phenomenon previously observed on Moon.
This isn’t the first oddity Yutu 2 discovers on the side of Moon that is perpetually facing away from Earth. In 2019, it came across a particular substance described as “gel-like”; which turned out to be lunar rock melted into glass, also due to impact.
The Moon, not protected by an atmosphere, gets smacked in-to a lot.
A closer look at the “mysterious hut” will tell us something about the moon, even if it isn’t the presence of aliens. If it is a boulder that has been excavated below the lunar surface, we may be able to learn more about the composition of the moon below the top layer of rock & rubble. CNSA scientists therefore definitely want to take a closer look.
The rock was spotted during the 36th day of Yutu 2’s operations on Moon. This is currently on its 37th lunar day, after-landed in Jan 2019.
Planned for original duration of three months, Yutu 2 & the Chang’e 4 spacecraft are now closing on the end of their third year & are still doing very well.
