China releases 308lb rover named Jade Rabbit 2 to trundle across the far side of the moon

A Chinese rover is making its tracks on the soft surface of the'dark' side of the moon after touching down on our nearest celestial neighbour. The Yutu-2 - or Jade Rabbit 2 - rover drove off its lander's ramp and onto the exterior of the moon's far side at 10:22pm Beijing time (2:22 pm GMT) on Thursday, about 12 hours after the Chinese spacecraft carrying it came to rest. A photo was later posted online by China's space agency revealing the rover several yards away from the spacecraft. The tracks it makes on the surface of the moon will be forever immotalised and will never be lost as there is no wind on the moon due to its lack of an atmosphere. By 5pm Beijing time (9am GMT) the three fifteen-foot long antennaes on Chang'e-4 had also been fully unfurled to enable the low-frequency radio spectrometre to begin work. The rover which is currently meandering around the moon on six independently controlled wheels, has also established a robust connection with its relay satellite, Queqiao. Yutu-2 has already completed environmental perception, route planning, walking to where it is pictured currently and starting its scientific operations. Chinese state media also reports that the cameras on the machine have been turned on and are working normally. The other equipment will be turned on one by one, according to the Chinese space agency CNSA. Jade Rabbit 2 weighs 308lbs (139kg) and has six individually powered wheels so it can continue to operate even if one wheel fails.