China's first robotic lander has posted a tearful goodbye to Earth from the surface of the Moon.
The 'Jade Rabbit' lander (or 'Yutu' in Chinese) was dropped onto the Moon on December 15, becoming the first man-made object to make a 'soft' landing on our natural satellite for almost 40 years.
Originally it was hoped the lander would operate for three months, sending back useful analysis of the surface.
But over the weekend, it appears that tragedy struck. State media reported on Saturday that the rover had run into serious trouble on "the complicated lunar surface", experiencing a "mechanical control abnormality".
On Sina Weibo (China's version of Twitter) users erupted in sadness over the rover's fate.
But in what Phys.org has called "an effort to soften the blow", state media then posted a 'first hand' account of the rover's demise, which is both sad and haunting, and a little bizarre. You'd never get Nasa doing anything that silly.
Here's the goodbye from China's brave little robot:
"I originally thought I could hop around up here for three months. But if this trip is to end prematurely, I'm not afraid. Whether or not they can fix me, I know that my breakdown can provide my masters with a lot of valuable information and experience.
"The sun here has fallen, and the temperature is dropping fast. I've said a lot today, but I still feel it's not enough.
I'll tell everyone a little secret. I'm actually not that sad. I'm just in my own adventure story, and like any protagonist, I encountered a bit of a problem. Goodnight, Earth. Goodnight, humans."