News Digest

A giant step for mankind: China aims to land on dark side of the moon

China aims to land the first probe on the dark side of the moon in 2018, marking another milestone in its ambitious space program. It has begun a new round of work focused on lunar exploration, two years after it made the first landing on the moon since 1976 with the Chang'e-3 craft and its Jade Rabbit rover. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side of the moon, that is never visible from Earth, but none has landed on it. "The Chang'e-4’s lander and rover will make a soft landing on the back side of the moon, and will carry out in-place and patrolling surveys,“ the country’s lunar exploration chief Liu Jizhong said.

I am sure the international lunar science community will be very excited about this mission. I know I am.

Clive Neal, chair of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group

The new probe, which is similar to the Chang'e-3 but can carry a bigger payload, will study geological conditions on the far side of the moon. Experts say the landing will be challenging. It contains the biggest impact crater in the solar system – the South Pole-Aitken basin, which is nearly 2,500km wide and 13km deep. Advancing China’s space program has been a priority of leaders, with president Xi Jinping calling for China to establish itself as a space power. China insists that its space ambitions are for peaceful purposes.