The Moon rabbit or Moon hare is a mythical figure in East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on pareidolic interpretations that identify the dark markings on the near side of the Moon as a rabbit or hare. In East Asia, the rabbit is seen as pounding with a mortar and pestle, but the contents of the mortar differ among Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese folklore. In Chinese folklore, the rabbit is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang'e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her and some show the making of cakes or rice cakes; but in Japanese and Korean versions, the rabbit is pounding the ingredients for mochi or some other type of rice cakes; in the Vietnamese version, the Moon rabbit often appears with Hằng Nga and Chú Cuội, and like the Chinese version, the Vietnamese Moon rabbit also pounding the elixir of immortality in the mortar. In some Chinese versions, the rabbit pounds medicine for the mortals and some include making of mooncakes. Moon folklore from certain Amerindian cultures of North America also has rabbit themes and characters.
In addition, space holds the Moon Rabbit as part of its' makeup. Both China and the United States included the Rabbit in their explorations of the moon. China called their moon probe, Jade Rabbit. Unfortunately the probe malfunctioned to the point of completely shutting down. However, the probe was able to relay some data back to China which was enough to leave China's mark on the moon (https://www.nationalgeographic.com>science>article).
Buzz Aldrin, the American astronaut, said to control, "Okay. We'll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl." This myth has been incorporated even with NASA (http://www.forallmoonkind.org.>observe-the-moon).