Lunar program designer says probe working well: Wu Weiren

Photo taken by the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) on Jan 11, 2019 shows the lander of the Chang'e 4 probe [Photo/Xinhua/China National Space Administration]

Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program and a national political adviser, told reporters that status of China's Chang'e 4 unmanned lunar probe, which consists of a lander and a robotic rover, was good and it was working well after a second dormancy period on the lunar surface.

The rover, named Yutu 2, or Jade Rabbit 2, is moving northwestward toward rough terrain.

The Chang'e 5 robotic lunar probe will be launched around the end of this year and will bring samples back to Earth. If the mission is successful, China, he said, will become the third nation, after the United States and the former Soviet Union, to bring lunar soil to Earth.

The scientist also added that the country plans to launch its first Mars probe in 2020.