It’s been seven years. Do you still remember the “rabbit” that lived on the moon?

"Hi! Good night this time!" Seven years ago today, the "Yutu Lunar Rover" posted its last Weibo post, saying goodbye to everyone.

The "Yutu" lunar rover is my country's first independently designed and manufactured lunar rover, or lunar surface patrol probe. Together with the lander, it forms the Chang'e-3 probe, which successfully landed in December 2013 and began lunar surface patrol exploration. The design life of "Yutu" was only three months, but it served for two and a half years beyond its service life.

What is most touching is that seven years after "Yutu" finished his work, there are still netizens leaving messages to him saying that they miss him and want to take him home.

Why do people like this rabbit so much? The story begins in 2013.

On December 2, 2013, a Chinese-made "Jade Rabbit" nestled in the arms of Chang'e 3, set off from Xichang in the heart of the southwest, "broke into" the Moon Palace, and took the first footprint on the Moon.

The Yutu lunar rover is tasked with carrying scientific payloads to investigate the lunar surface morphology and geological structure, lunar surface material composition and available resources.

The Chang'e-3 probe successfully soft-landed on the moon.

Image source: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Due to the harsh environment in space, computers in spacecraft often have to sacrifice performance to maintain normal operation. The central processing unit of the little rabbit is only equivalent to the level of home computers more than 20 years ago... On Earth, it is crowded with scientists who have long been accustomed to getting several TB of data at the slightest disagreement. The little rabbit has been measuring and calculating non-stop since the sun rises, and can only rest after the sun sets more than ten days later.

December 23, 2013. Robotic arm launch test.

Video source: Lunar Rover Yutu official Weibo

The original "service period" of the little rabbit was three months, but later, it became an "old rabbit" after one year, two years, two and a half years. Its original design life was only three months, but it was able to work healthily for two and a half years after exceeding its service period. This data set a record for the longest work on the moon.

On the evening of July 31, 2016, the Yutu lunar rover exceeded its mission and retired with honor.

During this period, Yutu and Chang'e 3 recorded a total of 7TB of data, creating many important research results for human space exploration.

Today, among the exposed rocks and the silhouettes of craters, only Yutu-2 is walking alone. It is also the only lunar rover still in operation on the moon. It has been working for more than 4 years, traveling nearly 1,500 meters in total, quietly exploring the secrets of the back of the moon.

Image source: China National Space Administration

This year, my country will fully promote the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, which includes the Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 missions. The "Jade Rabbit" on the moon will welcome more new visitors. From lunar probes, unmanned lunar rovers to manned lunar landings, human exploration of the moon has never stopped!

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, National Space Administration, etc.