China Daily Global Edition (USA)
First probe lands on far side of moon
Nation celebrates milestone after ‘perfect’ descent into unexplored region
Mankind’s lunar exploration history saw a new chapter open on Thursday morning as the world’s first explorer of the moon’s far side landed at its destination after a 26-day space journey.
The Chang’e 4 lunar probe, the latest step in China’s endeavor to explore the moon, landed at 10:26 am on the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin. It then sent back three pictures of the landing site shot by monitor cameras on the probe’s lander, marking the world’s first images taken on the moon’s far side.
One of the pictures, published by the China National Space Administration, shows the place where Chang’e 4’s rover, which was named Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2) on Thursday night, will be heading to roam and survey.
The successful landing formally inaugurated the world’s first expedition to the moon’s far side, which never faces Earth, and is expected to fulfill scientists’ long-held aspiration to closely observe the enormous region.
Tidal forces on Earth slow the moon’s rotation to the point where the same side always faces Earth. The other side, most of which is never visible from Earth, has been photographed extensively by spacecraft, starting with a Soviet probe in 1959. But no probe had previously made a soft landing onto it, so scientists around the world had not been able to conduct close observations or surveys of the region for decades.
According to the China National Space Administration, Chang’e 4’s landing process started at 10:15 am when the spacecraft began descending from an orbit 15 kilometers above the lunar surface, following control signals from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center transmitted via China’s Queqiao relay satellite.
The probe made rapid position adjustments 6 to 8 kilometers above the moon. The descent then paused about 100 meters above the surface so the destination’s inclination could be analyzed and any hazards could be detected at the preset landing site.
After an exact landing area was determined, Chang’e 4 slowly resumed its descent and touched down, the space administration said in a statement.
Shortly after the landing, the probe unfolded its solar arrays and antennas and established a high-speed data link through Queqiao, the administration said.
Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar program, said in Beijing on Thursday after the landing that the descent and landing operations “were perfect”. He called the event “an important milestone for China’s space exploration”, adding that it is a good
start for the country’s future lunar exploration efforts.
With its investigation into the far side, particularly the Von Karman crater, the Chang’e 4 mission will enable scientists to discover what they haven’t known about the moon and deepen their knowledge about the early histories of the moon and the solar system.
Scientists involved in the program also expect that researchers can take advantage of the far side’s shield against Earth’s interference to make clearer observations into deep space.
Zhang He, executive director of the Chang’e 4 program at the China Academy of Space Technology, said, “As there had been no probe on the far side before us, all scientific information obtained by the Chang’e 4 will be new to the world.”
Next, Chang’e 4 will begin testing and fine-tuning its equipment and will wait for a suitable condition to release its rover, the space administration said.
Chang’e 4 was lifted atop a Long March 3B carrier rocket on Dec 8 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China’s Sichuan province.
Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, the probe consists of two parts — a lander and a rover. The two carry eight mission instruments including two jointly designed by Chinese scientists and counterparts in Sweden and Germany.
It is the fourth lunar probe that China has launched since the country’s lunar program was begun in 2004.