Well over a week since daylight returned to its landing site, China's Yutu Moon rover seems to be damaged beyond any practical use. That's the only reliable conclusion this analyst can reach after days of reading the available evidence, considering the options, and waiting for any sort of good news.
It is true that China reported that Yutu had made some sort of transmission a few days after sunrise. This shows that the rover was not completely dead at the time. However, this form of erratic transmissions, followed by silence, is typical of the way spacecraft die.
We have seen it so many times before. Ironically, the sunlight that was expected to heal the rover back to health may have damaged it even further as the lunar day advanced. Parts that could have been damaged by the cold lunar night could have been fractured or warped as they heated.
Is Yutu just severely damaged or is it totally dead? Right now, that's inconclusive. This writer suggested in an earlier article that it would take China some time to diagnose Yutu's faults and work out a strategy to use the rover.
This would take some time, and that would justify China's silence. Well, there has now been more than enough time to make a diagnosis and draw up some plans. China should say something new about Yutu. The world wants to know.
The overall forecast for Yutu grows bleaker with every day of inactivity and silence from Chinese officials. The world understands this, and has generally embraced Yutu and the Chang'e-3 mission that landed it with the support it deserves.
Millions of people around the world feel that they are stakeholders in this mission, just as China wanted. We need closure on the fate of our little robotic friend.
