Rover starts exploring Moon’s far side

A Chinese space rover explored the lunar terrain yesterday in the first mission on the surface of the far side of the Moon.

Jade Rabbit 2 drove off a ramp and on to the soft, powdery surface after a Chinese spacecraft made the first soft landing on the Moon’s far side. A photo posted online by China’s space agency showed tracks left by the rover as it headed away from the spacecraft.

‘‘It’s a small step for the rover but one giant leap for the Chinese nation,’’ Wu Weiren, chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV, in a twist on American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s famous comment when he became the first human to walk on the Moon in 1969. ‘‘This giant leap is a decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the universe.’’

Previous Moon landings, including America’s six manned missions from 1969 to 1972, have been on the near side of the satellite, which faces Earth. The far side has been observed many times from lunar orbits but never explored on the surface.

China’s space community is taking pride in the successful landing, which posed technical challenges because the Moon blocks direct communication between the spacecraft and its controllers on Earth. ‘‘The landing on the far side shows China’s technology is powerful,’’ said He Qisong, a space expert at the East China University of Science and Law in Shanghai.

While China’s space programme still lagged behind America’s, ‘‘China has already positioned itself at least as good as Russia and the European Union’’, he said.

The Chinese rover has six powered wheels, allowing it to continue to operate even if one wheel fails.

It has a maximum speed of 200m per hour and can climb a 20-degree hill or an obstacle up to 20cm tall.

‘‘The surface is soft, and it is similar to that when you are walking on the snow,’’ rover designer Shen Zhenrong of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told CCTV.

Exploring the cosmos from the far side of the Moon could help scientists learn more about the early days of the solar system and even the birth of the universe’s first stars.

The far side is popularly called the ‘‘dark side’’ because it can’t be seen from Earth and is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight.

‘‘It’s . . . one giant leap for the Chinese nation.’’ Wu Weiren, chief designer

XINHUA/AP China’s Yutu-2 rover leaves wheel tracks in the lunar dust after leaving the lander that touched down on the far side of the Moon this week.