China’s Chang’e 4 makes first-ever soft landing on moon’s far side

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China’s Chang’e 4 makes first-ever soft landing on moon’s far side
By Leng Shumei Source:Global Times Published: 2019/1/3 12:17:35 Last Updated: 2019/1/3 14:27:43
 
     

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An image of the moon's dark side Chang'e-4's lander descends to the moon's surface. Photo: China National Space Administration (CNSA)


 China's Chang'e-4 probe successfully made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon at 10:26 Thursday morning, marking a breakthrough in human exploration of the universe, according to a statement the China National Space Administration (CNSA) sent to the Global Times on Thursday.

The probe sent back its first images at 11:40 am, about an hour after it landed, revealing the moon's dark side for the first time.

The lunar lander touched down on the moon's far side and sent communication signals between the moon's far side and the Earth for the first time, launching a new chapter of human exploration of the moon, read the statement.

The probe made a vertically landing at the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon's dark side. 

"The Von Karman Crater is believed to have great scientific research potential. The region is also comparatively flat, making it safer for Chang'e-4 to land there," a Beijing-based Chinese aerospace expert, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Congratulations to China's Chang'e-4 team for what appears to be a successful landing on the far side of the Moon. This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment!" Jim Bridenstine, the administrator of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), twitted after the Chang'e-4's landing.


An image shot by the Chang'e-4 probe as it was landing. Photo: China National Space Administration (CNSA)


The Chang'e-4 probe, including a lander and a rover, was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket on December 8 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System.  It is about 2,500 kilometers in diameter and 12 kilometers deep.

More than 100 spacecraft and probes have been launched onto the moon since the 1950s but none have made a soft landing on the moon's dark side, Zou Yongliao, deputy director of the National Space Science Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at a press conference in November 2018.

Touchdown in the SPA basin will help gather information about substances deep in the moon, which will be a good opportunity to learn about deep space, Zou said.

Rocks on the moon's far side are comparatively more ancient than those on the front side. The landing of Chang'e 4 on far side will help humanity learn the origin and evolution of the moon and low frequency radio astronomy observations, filling a void in the field, Zou said.

The probe entered an elliptical lunar orbit on Sunday morning in preparation for the landing.

The Chang'e-4 spacecraft is named after the moon goddess in Chinese legends and myths. The series of Chang'e missions are part of China's lunar exploration project, which was initiated in 2004.


An image shot after Chang'e-4's soft landing on the moon's dark side. Photo: China National Space Administration (CNSA)




The project is China's first step into deep-space exploration. It is divided into three phases - unmanned lunar exploration, manned moon landings and the establishment of a moon base. Lunar probes from Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-5 are the first phase.

China has successfully launched Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-3, which have orbited the moon and made a soft landing on the near side of the moon. The mission of Chang'e will be to collect soil samples on the moon and return them to Earth.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1134419.shtml