Chinese spacecraft makes first landing on moon’s far side
A Chinese spacecraft has made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon.
The official China Central Television said Thursday the lunar explorer Chang’e 4 had touched down at 10:26 a.m. local time.
The far side of the moon is the hemisphere that never faces earth, due to the moon's rotation. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the "dark side of the moon," even though it receives just as much sunlight as its earth-facing side.
The pioneering landing demonstrates China’s growing ambitions as a space power.
The probe entered an elliptical orbit on Dec. 30, 2018, passing just 9.3 miles above the moon's surface, state media reported.
The Chang'e 4 lunar mission lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province on Dec. 8, 2018, and entered the moon's orbit four days later, according to Chinese state media.
Once safely on the moon, the lander will tackle a long to-do list, including conducting the first lunar low-frequency radio astronomy experiment, observe whether plants will grow in the low-gravity environment and explore whether there is water or other resources at the poles.
Another function of the mission is to study the interaction between solar winds and the moon's surface using a new rover.
"Since the far side of the moon is shielded from electromagnetic interference from the Earth, it's an ideal place to research the space environment and solar bursts, and the probe can 'listen' to the deeper reaches of the cosmos," said Tongjie Liu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center for the China National Space Administration.
Because of the far side's position facing away from earth, it is free from interference from radio frequencies, and therefore it's not possible for the lunar rover to communicate directly with ground control. This is often cited as a reason other space agencies have not landed a probe or rover there before. The mission requires a relay satellite to transmit signals, which was launched into place this year.
The Chang'e 4 rover is 5 feet long and about 3.3 feet wide and tall, with two foldable solar panels and six wheels.
"China is anxious to get into the record books with its space achievements," said Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College and an expert on China's space program.
"It is highly likely that with the success of Chang'e -- and the concurrent success of the human spaceflight Shenzhou program -- the two programs will eventually be combined toward a Chinese human spaceflight program to the moon," she added. "Odds of the next voice transmission from the moon being in Mandarin are high."
Although the Chinese government has long stressed its "peaceful motives" in space exploration, Washington increasingly views China -- along with Russia -- as a potential threat, accusing Beijing of working to bring new weapons into space and prompting President Donald Trump to announce the establishment of a U.S. Space Force by 2020.
The U.S. Congress has barred NASA from working with China due to national security concerns.