The race may be on between United States and China to get to the Moon after China started it, but U.S. may be coming in way later because they are focused on Mars.
There's not a lot of information about China's rover named Yutu, which means "Jade Rabbit," on the web from Chinese national news services, but some sketchy live video reveals the rover landing on the Moon in December 2013.
Yutu rode to the moon aboard China's Chang'e 3 mission, which is China's first lunar rover, according to ExtremeTech.com.
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The website said the rover has an "explicit mission to [among other things] survey the moon for helium-3, a rare element that could be a clean, easily used fuel for nuclear fusion reactors."
"The ultimate goal is to land a Taikonaut (Chinese astronaut) on the moon, and beyond that to set up a permanent lunar base. Their timeline for doing this isn't so far removed from NASA's musings about a mission to Mars," Extreme Tech wrote. "As the American space agency tries to drum up support for a mission to another planet, its Chinese counterpart could undercut them by focusing on a base much more likely to have economic benefits."
In future missions, [one is scheduled for 2017], China wants to collect and bring back rock and soil samples of titanium and other precious metals back to Earth for analysis.
The Moon hasn't had a human visitor since 1972, when the U.S.'s Apollo 17 mission left the moon.
So will the U.S. hop on board for another mission to the Moon and start a new space race? No, not right now at least.
"NASA experts say that while the U.S. cannot ignore the fact that China and other nations are entering space exploration, there is little budget money available for another moon landing. It appears that the U.S. will remain focused on Mars," GuardianLV.com reported.
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