Chang’e 5 not to take new rover to replace Yutu   

“玉兔”车将迎来第10个月昼 嫦娥5号将不带新月球车

中国探月工程总设计师吴伟仁4日在澳门表示，6日“玉兔号”月球车将进入第十个月昼工作期，目前其4台科学载荷——全景相机、测月雷达、红外成像光谱仪、粒子激发X射线谱仪运行正常。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) -- China won't send another moon rover to take over Yutu's mission, even though the Chang'e 5 is planned to launch by 2017, according to xinhuanet.com, citing Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program.

Chang'e 5's mission is to collect samples on the moon's surface and bring them back, Wu said.

China's first moon rover Yutu is set to enter its 10th lunar day. The rover, designed to work for three months, has worked for over 10 months, and it will break down with time, he added.

So far, four instruments installed on the rover, namely a panorama camera, a moon radar, an infrared imaging spectrometer and a particle-stimulated X-ray spectrometer, are still functioning, Wu said, and the Chang'e 3 lander was also in good condition.

The Yutu rover and the lander were deployed to the moon's surface on December 2 of last year. The rover recovered and continued to work after it experienced a mechanical control abnormality during its second lunar sleep.

Wu said lunar dust, much finer than sands on Earth, might be a cause of the rover's malfunction. "There's still much more on the moon for us to study," he added.

Wu also noted that Yutu and the lander would very likely stay on the moon forever.

When asked when China will send men to the Moon, Wu said they are still working on it, but that the plan won't be carried out before 2020.