Moon, your lonely days are over. It’s been 37 years since anything landed on our tidal companion’s surface, but on December 1st China will launch Chang’e-3, a six-wheeled rover which will ultimately spend three months roving around the surface of the moon, scanning the lunar surface to depths of 100m. Nicknamed Yutu, or Jade Rabbit – after the mythological pet of lunar goddess Chang’e, no less – the rover is due to land in a plain of basaltic lava at a more northerly point than previous US or USSR lunar landings, thus exploring lesser-known areas of the moon. Click on … Continue reading China to send Jade Rabbit to the moon, reveals plans for first space station – an annotated graphic