“I know I may not make it through this lunar night.” The China Academy of Space Technology laid the pathos on thick when it gave its lunar robot Jade Rabbit a farewell speech at the end of last month. The rover had become mired in moon dust and was unable to enter hibernation. Facing 14 days without sunlight, the solar-powered robot, launched on December 2, was unlikely to survive. “Good night, Planet Earth,” it said. “Good night, humanity.”
It looked like the end of a venture that could have accelerated the process of finding out who—if anyone—owns the moon.
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