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 a.m. Since the moon’s revolution cycle is the same as its rotation cycle, the same side always faces the earth.

The other face, most of which cannot be seen from earth, is called the far side or dark side, not because it’s dark, but because most of it remains unknown.

The Chang’e-4 mission will be a key step in revealing the mysterious far side of the moon.