China's moon rover spots a mysterious cube-shaped object, and the internet is intrigued
For the past two years, China's Yutu 2 rover has been roaming across the Von Karman crater on the far side of the moon. And on its journey, it spotted a mysterious cube-shaped object.
According to Space.com, the China National Space Administration keeps a log of each of the rover's lunar days, which is around 29 Earth days, according to NASA. On its 36th lunar day, the rover spotted a cube-shaped object on the horizon about 260 feet away. Andrew Jones, a Space.com reporter tracking China's space endeavors, said officials called it a "mystery house." Here is what the object looks like:
NEWS 🚨: Mysterious cube-shaped anomaly discovered on the moon's far side by Chinese rover
The rover will spend the next 2-3 months verifying it pic.twitter.com/q153AVtLi3— Latest in space (@latestinspace) December 5, 2021
Photos of the object have gone viral on Twitter, and some users have come up with some interesting, and funny, theories on what it might be.
Moon cube! Moon cube! Moon cube! https://t.co/zh97sVJY5q
— Sophie ✨ From ✨ Mars (@sophie_frm_mars) December 6, 2021
*gasp*
GameCube 2
It’s finally arrived https://t.co/zHAdXQGtqV— Ben Bertoli (@SuperBentendo) December 6, 2021
Can this be real?? https://t.co/uDUnjb5AId pic.twitter.com/uYDzppmyVx
— soup dog (@masklayer) December 6, 2021
It’s happening…. pic.twitter.com/30RQ0Ivo7R
— Alfonso Nation (@AlfonsoNation) December 6, 2021
Wait a minute pic.twitter.com/u6LWxLGIHZ
— Justin List 👨🏻💻 (@JustinList) December 5, 2021
On the other hand, some people were wondering if this cube-shaped object could mean something dangerous:
*cube-shaped* https://t.co/scwlnzeXMu pic.twitter.com/u4YAPz99DJ
— yori (@yoribun) December 6, 2021
ABORT
ABORT
DANGER!
WE ARE NOT MEANT TO SEE THIS— Optimus Claus 🎅 (@TeslaAIBot) December 5, 2021
well if humanity ends up unearthing some ancient cosmic evil at least it'll be more entertaining than our current situation
— turingsghost (@turinghost) December 6, 2021
Though there is no actual answer for what the cube is, it probably isn't something that is going to destroy Earth. Jones said the most likely explanation is it's actually a large boulder that appeared after an impact event.
Video: NASA launched a spacecraft to try to knock an asteroid off course
But China officials are intrigued by the object, and Yutu 2 will be traversing through the region and avoiding craters to get closer to it. It will take the rover two to three lunar days, or up to three months, to approach the object. Still, some are hoping for complete chaos.
please be something cool and weird and scary https://t.co/PDWD2tPUwx
— 🍂𝚃𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚛 𝙷𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗🍂 (@slimyswampghost) December 6, 2021
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China's rover spots mysterious cube on moon