While traversing Von Kármán crater on the far side of the moon, China's Yutu 2 rover spotted a mysterious object on the horizon.
According to a Yutu 2 diary published by Our Space, a Chinese language scientific outreach channel linked with the China National Space Administration, Yutu 2 saw a cube-shaped object on the horizon to the north and around 260 feet away in November during the mission's 36th lunar day.
The object was referred to as a "mystery hut" by Our Space, but this was a placeholder label rather than an actual description.
Yutu 2 is now expected to spend the next 2-3 lunar days (2-3 Earth months) traversing lunar regolith and avoiding craters to get a closer look at the object, so expect updates.
The day and night cycle on the moon is one of the reasons it takes so long to go across it. The moon rotates every 27 days due to the way it spins, which is roughly the same length of time it takes to orbit our planet. As a result, one side of the moon faces us while the other, far side, where Yutu 2 is located, is not visible from Earth.
The other effect of this rotation is that a full lunar day lasts 29 Earth days, implying that the moon is in daylight for just over two Earth weeks and night for just over two weeks.
As rovers like Yutu 2 rely on solar power, they must slumber for these overnight periods and they can only investigate during the daytime period.
A massive boulder that has been excavated by an impact event is a likely explanation for the shape.
To be clear, it's not an obelisk or aliens, but it's definitely worth looking into, and it's difficult to tell much from the image.
On Jan. 3, 2019, the solar-powered Yutu 2 and Chang'e 4 lander landed on the far side of the moon for the first time, and the rover has been rolling through the 115-mile-wide Von Kármán crater ever since.
Chang'e 4 is China's fourth moon mission and the second to deliver a rover to the lunar surface. Chang'e 1 and 2 were orbiters, while Chang'e 3 landed on the moon's near side with the first Yutu rover. The Chang'e 5 T1 test mission around the moon and the Chang'e 5 moon sample return mission have also been launched by China.
According China Daily, Yutu 2 has already traveled 2,756 feet (across the moon.
