Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

China’s Chang’e-6 lander/ascender in far side sampling scenery. Image taken by a mini-rover.
Image credit: CNSA/CLEP

That mysterious tiny rover let loose by China’s Chang’e-6 Moon lander has finally been spotlighted.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said the roughly 5 kilograms device is an autonomous, intelligent mini-robot, developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

Weighing roughly 11 pounds (5 kilograms), the sporty mini-snooper is far lighter than China’s first lunar rover, Yutu, that drove across the lunar landscape in 2013.

Chang’e-6 pre-launch look with wheeled rover attached (left side of photo).
Image credit: CNSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Ideal angle

“After Chang’e-6 collected the samples on the far side of the Moon,” Xinhua reports, “the mini rover autonomously detached from the lander, moved to a suitable position, selected an ideal angle for the photograph, and then captured the image.”

No word on the ultra-tiny Moon rover’s health given the Chang’e-6’s ascender blastoff  that lofted lunar collectibles into Moon orbit.