Beijing, Dec 21

China's moon rover, Yutu (Jade Rabbit), was in stable condition following its restart after a "nap" Friday night, according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre.

The six-wheeled rover started moving again after shutting down its sub-systems Dec 16 and has travelled about 21 meters as of 8.05 p.m. Beijing Time Saturday, Xinhua reported.

Real time telemetry updates showed that all sub-systems of the rover and lander were working and the rover has sent more than 500 instructions to the lander within the 24 hours after the nap.

The rover separated from the lander Dec 15, several hours after Chang'e-3 soft-landed Dec 14. It moved to a spot about 9 metres to the north where Yutu and the lander took photos of each other.

The rover will survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances and look for natural resources for three months while the lander will conduct explorations at the landing site for one year.

By:IANS