By Tim Binnall
The mystery surrounding the puzzling cube-like object spotted on the far side of the moon by China's Yutu 2 lunar rover has been solved as the country's space agency announced that it is simply a rock. The observation of the anomaly sparked worldwide headlines back in December when the China National Space Administration's Our Space website posted a photo of what they dubbed a 'mystery hut.' It was originally thought that it would take 2 to 3 months for the rover to reach the curious object and investigate it, but the space agency posted an update on Friday wherein they indicated that they couldn't "wait to know the final answer."
As such, they explained, scientists and engineers operating the rover "racked their brains to study how to make Yutu move in place as quickly as possible" while maintaining the safety of the precious robotic explorer. The team eventually devised a way for the vehicle to reach the 'hut' and set about on a somewhat arduous journey across the barren lunar surface. When the rover finally reached the object, the space agency said, "the drivers were a little disappointed" as the 'mystery hut' which once appeared to be a massive structure in the distance "turned out to be very small" and was merely just a rock.
While the revelation may disappoint those hoping that the anomaly was really an alien's house, the team noticed a humorous peculiarity that they had noticed. In a manner not unlike anomaly hunters scouring images of Mars in search of alien evidence, they marveled at how the rock bore an uncanny resemblance to a rabbit. This was particularly noteworthy since the rover is literally named after a lunar rabbit in Chinese folklore. Noting the synchronistic nature of the entire affair, the post detailing the discovery mused "was the fantasy of the 'mysterious house' on the horizon just its calling? Is all this fate or coincidence?"