China’s Yutu (Jade Rabbit) moon rover was written off as a loss by many after it encountered technical difficulties and stopped moving about a month after landing. Although it only travelled 114 meters after landing, it has still managed to tell a story about the moon that will come as a surprise to many.

Data sent back by the rover indicates that there are at least nine different rock layers beneath its wheels, which indicates that the moon has been extremely geologically active over the last 3.3 billion years.

“Two things are most interesting. One is [that] more volcanic events have been defined in the late volcanism history of the moon. Another is the lunar mare [volcanic plain] area is not only composed of basaltic lavas, but also explosive eruption-formed pyroclastic rocks. The latter finding may shed light on … the volatile contents in the lunar mantle,” Long Xiao told Space.com.

Xiao is a researcher at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, and the lead author of a paper, published in the journal Science, detailing the findings.

The Jade Rabbit rover was equipped with three primary scientific instruments including Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) capable of probing 1,300 feet beneath the lunar surface as well as the Active Particle-Induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Visible Near-Infrared Spectrometer (VNIS).

The published research details results collected from the camera and the LPR. The data was collected from the rovers landing site and a nearly 1500 foot wide crater (C1) located 165 feet away. C1 is believed to have been created by an impact that occurred between 27 and 80 million years ago.

Although Yutu wasn’t able to travel far, it was able to take measurements of the ground it rolled over and observe the nearby craters. According to the researchers the terrain where the rover landed is very different from the Apollo mission landing sites.

According to Xiao one of the most interesting findings is a layer 450 to 780 feet beneath the surface.

“We think this layer is probably pyroclastic rocks which formed during the course of volcanic eruptions. It reveals the diversity of volcanic activity, but what’s more important is that it shows there are plenty of volatile contents inside the moon,” Xaio told Xinhua.

Yutu is part of China’s Chang’e-3 moon mission. On December 14, 2013 it delivered the rover and a stationary lander to the moon’s surface. When it touched down, in an area known as the Sea of Rains, it became the first lunar landing since the Soviet Luna 24 mission arrived in 1976.

Although no new data will be delivered from the rover, it delivered a good deal of data in a short period of time. Additional research is still being done and more findings are forthcoming.

“Unfortunately, Yutu encountered mechanical problems and has ended its mission. No more data will come. However, our report only provides the scientific results based on imagery and radar data. More results from NIS and APXS for composition study will come out soon,” said Xiao.

Although scientists already know a great deal about our natural satellite, there is still a great deal to learn according to Xiao.

“Overall, we have already had a general scientific understanding of the moon thanks to these lunar missions. But if we want to have a comprehensive understanding of moon’s geological structure, material composition and formation, as well as its evolution, a large number of exploration events are still needed. Meanwhile, effective international cooperation is a must considering the high cost of these activities,” he said.