Yutu is China's first lunar rover (also known as Mars rover), and together with the lander, it forms the Chang 'e III probe. The design mass of Yutu lunar rover is 137kg, and the energy source is solar energy, which can withstand the extreme environment such as vacuum on the surface of the moon, strong radiation and extreme temperature from-180 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees Celsius. The lunar rover is equipped with scientific detection instruments such as panorama camera, infrared imaging spectrometer, lunar radar, particle excited X-ray spectrometer, etc.
At 20131210: 30, China successfully put the Chang' e-3 probe into the scheduled orbit in xichang satellite launch center. At 20 13 12 15 4: 35, the Chang' e-3 lander was separated from the patrol, and the patrol "Yutu" successfully reached the lunar surface. On the evening of July 3 16, Yutu lunar rover stopped working after overfulfilling its mission, and the lander was in good condition. Yutu was the first footprint left by China on the moon, and it worked on the moon for 972 days.
Structural design of Yutu
The Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover sparkles and dazzles people. "Golden Flower" is to reflect the bright light of the moon during the day, reduce the temperature difference between day and night, block the radiation of various high-energy particles in the universe, and support and protect the infrared imaging spectrometer and laser dot matrix device in the belly of the lunar rover.
There are two solar panels that can be opened on the shoulder of the lunar rover Yutu, and there are six wheeled mobile devices below. Jade rabbit has extremely high requirements for wheels. During the development process, after comparing dozens of schemes such as four-wheel, six-wheel, eight-wheel, crawler-type and so on, researchers finally determined the scheme of "six-wheel independent drive and four-wheel independent steering".
"Jade Rabbit" is equipped with an antenna for dialogue and communication between the earth and the moon; Navigation cameras overhead and obstacle avoidance cameras front and rear; Mechanical arm for drilling, grinding and sampling. "Jade Rabbit" has achieved all "Made in China", and the domestic production rate has reached 100%.
Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Jade Rabbit