China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft has made a successful landing on the far side of the Moon, an area that remains mostly unknown to the people on Earth.
The probe was landed by China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the Moon’s biggest and oldest impact crater, reported China Central Television (CCTV).
The landing marks the world’s first such attempt and touchdown, as well as a milestone in the history of human space exploration, reported BBC.
Prior to the landing, the Chang’e-4 made a final descent from a 15km elliptical orbit above the Moon’s surface.
The probe has already started sending images back to Earth using a dedicated satellite launched by China.
The satellite is currently orbiting the Moon to help the Chang’e-4 communicate with its ground control centre on Earth, reported edition.cnn.com.
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By GlobalDataLaunched last December from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre aboard a Long March 3B rocket, the Chang’e-4 is equipped with instruments that are designed to evaluate the geology and conduct biological experiments on the unexplored side of the Moon.
The spacecraft also intends to explore the Von Kármán crater, which is situated within the much larger SPA Basin.
The Chang’e-4 is also expected to examine regolith, the fragmented rocks and dust that form the surface, in order to better understand the creation of the Moon.
With its spectrometer, the probe will conduct low-frequency radio astronomy experiments.
In addition, the Chang’e-4’s static lander includes two cameras, a radiation experiment called LND, a 3kg container with potato and Arabidopsis plant seeds, as well as silkworm eggs and other instruments to carry out several experiments.
