China ‘lifts mysterious veil’ by landing probe on dark side of the moon
The achievement ‘opens a new chapter in human lunar exploration’, says Chinese state media
Beijing — A Chinese space probe successfully touched down on the far side of the moon on Thursday, state media said, hailing it as a historic first landing there on a mission seen as an important step for China’s space programme. Chinese state television said the Chang’e-4 lunar probe, launched in December, made the “soft landing” at 02.26am GMT and transmitted the first-ever “close range” image of the dark side of the moon. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate that it orbits our planet, so the far side — or the “dark side” — is never visible from Earth. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side of the moon but none has landed on it. The landing “lifted the mysterious veil” from the far side of the moon and “opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration”, the broadcaster said. The probe, which includes a lander and a rover, touched down at a preselected landing area, the official Xinhua news agency said, after it had entered the moon’s orbit in mid-Decem...
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