Chinese probe lands on moon’s ‘far side’

AChinese space probe successfully touched down on far side of the moon on 3 January 2019, which is seen as an important step in China’s space programme. After the ‘soft landing’ the Chang’e-4 lunar probe, transmitted the first-ever ‘close range’ image of the dark side of the moon, lifting a mysterious veil from far side of the moon which has “opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration”.

The probe, which includes a lander and a rover, touched down at a preselected landing area, the official Xinhua news agency later posting a wide-angle colour picture of a crater from the moon’s surface. The tasks of Chang’e-4 include astronomical observation, surveying the moon’s terrain, landform and mineral composition, plus measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment on the far side of the moon, according to the China National Space Administration has stated.