Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Reports of Jade Rabbit 's demise may have been premature . China 's first lunar rover had stopped functioning , state media reported Wednesday , but signs are emerging that Yutu , as it is known in Mandarin , may be up and running again . Following technical malfunctions Xinhua said that the lunar rover had lost communication with mission control but on Thursday the state news agency said that the rover was `` fully awake '' and had returned to its normal signal-receiving status . `` Jade Rabbit has fully resurrected and is able to receive signals , but still suffers a mechanical control abnormality , '' China 's lunar program spokesman Pei Zhaoyu told Xinhua . `` The rover entered hibernation while in an abnormal state . We were worried it would n't be able to make it through the extreme cold of the lunar night . But it came back alive . The rover stands a chance of being saved as it is still alive . '' READ MORE : China 's moon landing . Xinhua also posted a screenshot of the Chang ' e-3 Moon Probe 's Sina Weibo account , which , at 8.49am Thursday morning local time , asked : `` Is anyone out there ? '' The rover has over 300,000 followers on the Chinese Twitter-like social media site , some of whom celebrated the lucky robot 's resurrection . One Weibo user said that the rabbit was `` waking up for the [ Chinese lantern ] festival '' which starts on Friday . Another took a cynical view , commenting that some countries would `` be disappointed '' at China 's space program 's ability to come back from the dead . An amateur website dedicated to monitoring radio signals from space also reported on its Twitter account that it had detected `` pretty good signals '' from the device . The lunar rover 's end seemed near when it signed off at the end of January with a poignant message : `` Goodnight humanity . '' READ MORE : China 's moon rover launched successfully . The device had been out of action for two weeks following a technical malfunction , and media around the world filed its obituary late on Wednesday after a short statement on Chinese state media alerted the world to its apparent terminal failings . `` China 's first lunar rover , Yutu , could not be restored to full function on Monday as expected , '' the report stated . However , the robot has given its fans in China and around the world hope that it will resume its planned three-month mission and continue examining the moon 's surface for potential resources . The deputy chief designer of the Chang-e probe system told China National Radio the technical team is still trying to determine the source of problem and work on the plan for repair . Should Jade Rabbit make a full recovery , it would cap another success for space exploration , which has seen NASA 's Opportunity Mars rover , currently exploring the red planet , far outlast its expected lifespan . CNN 's Zhang Dayu and Wilfred Chan contributed to this report .
China 's Chang ' e 3 moon rover , thought to be beyond saving , has resumed signal-receiving status . ' Jade Rabbit ' prematurely pronounced inoperative . Comment: