Before it was discovered to be a big boring block of regolith, the moon was a wondrous sphere of possibility. For example, could it actually be made of cheese? No, it can't, but it might house a big ol’ mystery cube.
Reported by Space, a mysterious cube-shaped object has been discovered on the far side of The Moon. However, it might not actually be a cube as, for the most part, we have no idea what the Hell it is. Hence why it’s a mystery.
Is The Moon's mystery cube a mystery hut?
The possible three-dimensional version of a square was discovered by China's Yutu 2 rover. While traveling across the Von Kármán crater, the little rover that could spotted the object. The object was approximately 260 feet (80 meters) away from the rover when it was spotted.
However, despite being quite close, it will take a long time to get to the object. With a number of scientists interested in discovering what the object is — probably a rock — the Yutu 2 is expected to attempt to find out.
At the rover’s current speed, it will take around 2-3 lunar days to reach the cube. Unfortunately, 2-3 days on the lunar calendar is the equivalent of 2-3 months on Earth. So, it'll be a long while before we find out what it is.
While we've been calling the object a cube, Chinese scientists have a different name for it. The object has been referred to as: “神秘小屋/shenmi xiaowu”. In English, this translates to “Mystery Hut”, implying that this is a Moon Man’s place of residence.
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Yutu 2, where are you?
China's Yutu 2 rover is just one of China's impressive fleet of moon robots exploring our little , floating tide controller. Launched in 2018 and landing in 2019, the rover has been exploring the far side of The Moon for a total of 1070 days. Initially, the rover was only supposed to be active for three months.
Powered by solar panels, the rover uses cameras and radar technology to send back images of The Moon’s surface. After its 1000-plus days of exploration, the device has travelled 2,753.8 ft.