China launches lunar probe to study moon’s far side

BEIJING: China launched a lunar probe on Saturday which is expected to make the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon. A Long March-3B rocket, carrying the Chang’e-4 probe including a lander and a rover, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province at 2.23 am, reports Xinhua news agency.