Yutu-2 travels almost 300 meters on ninth lunar day
According to a story today in official Chinese state-run media, Yutu-2 traveled another 284.99 meters during its ninth lunar day on the surface of the Moon, and has now been placed in hibernation in order to survive the long lunar night.
The story provides no further information, including saying nothing about the strange and unusual material the rover supposedly spotted during this time period.
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According to a story today in official Chinese state-run media, Yutu-2 traveled another 284.99 meters during its ninth lunar day on the surface of the Moon, and has now been placed in hibernation in order to survive the long lunar night.
The story provides no further information, including saying nothing about the strange and unusual material the rover supposedly spotted during this time period.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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That comes to three meters an hour. I wonder why it is so slow.
For the same reason Curiosity is, I suppose – limited or no ability to conduct autonomous driving combined with considerable caution on the part of its handlers. Zipping around could tip it over or put it into some small ground declivity not easily spotted if moving faster. The latter sort of mishap could trap it.
It could be the gearing is involved. For a given motor (and the size is limited by everything else the rover needs, you want more instruments, maybe motor and battery size need to go down), the lower the gearing, the greater the torque, but the lower the speed. You’re not trying to set speed records here and the more torque you have, the steeper the slope you can ascend and, perhaps, the easier to get you out of awkward situations.
Hmm. Because our robotic rovers do not travel so fast, maybe we would get more exploration for our buck if we had humans doing the exploration. They move much faster, make their own decisions on the spot, but they cost a bit more to get there and back again.