A view of the Jade Rabbit rover snapped from the Chang’e-4 lander

China has released new pictures of a strange and unidentified mystery substance found on the dark side of the moon.

The reflective material was spotted by the Yutu-2 rover, which is also known as Jade Rabbit.

Now a government-sanctioned Chinese publication called Our Space has released new pictures of the ‘gel-like’ substance – although it’s still not been fully identified.

The images were posted to social media along with a colourful description of the nail-biting moment Jade Rabbit approached the impact crater.


Beijing space controllers had to steer ‘The Bunny’ carefully to make sure it didn’t plunge into the crater and get stuck inside, Our Space reported in a post we’ve run through Google Translate.



However, once it got close to the edge scientists realised the rover needed to edge forward a little and place its front wheel inside the crater.

‘This really makes the drivers squeeze the sweat,’ the Chinese space publication said.

A view of the strange ‘gel-like’ material (Image: CNSA)

The Chinese mission has been scouting out the moon’s far side since January (Image: CNSA)

When the manouvere was carried out, experts did not whether the crater would simply collapse and trap Jade Rabbit.

‘No one knows if the pit can be stressed, and everyone is stunned,’ Our Space added.

‘But it has already come here as if a huge treasure house is in front of you, and it is regrettable for everyone to fail to achieve the desired result.’

Happily, The Bunny was able to take a few pictures and then trundle slowly away from the danger zone.

‘The Yutu-2 rover is expected to bring us more surprises and scientific discoveries,’ the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration said in a statement issued to the state-run news agency Xinhua.

The substance has not yet been identified, but one Nasa expert has suggested it might be glass created by an asteroid strike.