Without a doubt it is a great milestone in the exploration of the human being in the universe . The National Space Administration of China (ANEC) has revealed that the lunar landing on the far side of the Moon occurred at 10.26 China time (02.26 GMT time) in the Aitken Basin, at the south pole of our satellite.
China’s Chang’e-4 landing vehicle and mobile vehicle have thus become the first spacecraft to land on this dark side of the Moon.
This spacecraft is part of a series of Chinese space missions called Chang’e (pronounced CHONG-uh), in honor of the Chinese goddess of the moon.
A small rover named Yutu 2 left the spacecraft several hours after landing. The rover will explore the terrain around the 186-kilometer-wide Von Kármán crater located within the 2,500-kilometer-wide South Pole-Aitken basin. The basin, one of the largest and oldest impact features in the solar system, could contain exposed parts of the Moon’s interior that could reveal details of its formation and early history.
The Chang’e-4 mission will measure a part of the composition of the region, use ground penetrating radar to scan just below the surface, and take panoramic images of a landscape that has never been seen from the ground before. They will be historical images.
It will also perform measurements of charged particles and radiation, which could help support future astronaut missions, and test whether plants and insects can grow together on the moon.
Chinese space ambition
Because the moon always shows the same face to Earth, it is impossible to communicate directly with the spacecraft on the dark side. A relay satellite called Queqiao, which was launched in May 2018, will broadcast signals between Chang’e-4 and Earth.
The landing marks China’s second moon landing, and represents another step toward more ambitious lunar missions. We have previous precedents : the Soviet and American space programs managed more than half a century ago to photograph the far side of the Moon but never managed to land a spacecraft on the surface, despite the fact that in 1962 an American unmanned mission tried, although without success. any.
The Chinese space agency is planning another mission to collect lunar rock samples later, within this year 2019. And the most avid goal of the program is, how could it be otherwise, a long-term manned mission to the Moon. . The date is unknown, but some hint that it could be around 2036.
Reference: China National Space Administration. China’s Chang’e-4 probe makes historic landing on moon’s far side. January 3, 2019. / L. Grossman. China is set to launch a satellite to support a future lunar rover. Science News Online, May 20, 2018.
Image credit: XINHUA
