The rover Yutu 2 from China has detected a mysterious object on the horizon as it made its way through the Von Kármán crater on the opposite side of the Moon.
Yutu 2 spotted a cube-shaped object on the horizon to the north and approximately 260 feet (80 meters) away in November on the mission’s 36th lunar day, according to a Yutu 2 diary published by Our Space, a Chinese-language science outreach channel affiliated with the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Our Space referred to the object as a “mysterious hut” (神秘 小屋 / shenmi xiaowu), but this is a placeholder name rather than an accurate description.
Scientists on the team have expressed great interest in the object and Yutu 2 is now expected to spend the next 2-3 lunar days (2-3 Earth months) traversing the lunar regolith and avoiding craters to get a closer look, so that updates can be expected.
A likely explanation for the shape would be a large rock that has been excavated by asteroid/meteorite impact.
China’s rover on the moon
Lander Yutu 2 and Change 4 modules from China, are powered by solar energy, and made the first landing on the opposite side of the moon on January 3, 2019. The rover has been rolling through the 186 kilometers of Von Kármán crater since then.
Change 4, as the name suggests, is Chinas fourth lunar mission and the second to deliver a rover to the moon. The Change 1 and 2 missions were orbiters, with Change 3 landing on the near side of the moon with the first Yutu rover.
China has also launched the Change 5 T1 test mission around the moon and the sample return mission of the Moon Change 5.