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Showing posts with the label CHINESE SPACE PROGRAM

China creates history, becomes first to land spacecraft on far side of moon

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China on Thursday successfully landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, becoming the first in history to touch the lunar surface unseen from Earth , according to media reports.The Chang’e-4 lunar probe, named after the mythical Moon Goddess, landed at 10:26 am Beijing time. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) landed the robotic probe — Change's 4 — in the unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, which is the largest, oldest and deepest crater on the moon's surface. The probe entered an elliptical path around the moon last weekend, drawing up to 15-kilometre close from the surface. The Change's-4 was launched from Xichang, southwestern China, on December 8. The probe reached the final orbit around the moon after 22 days and transmitted the first-ever "close range" image of the dark side of the moon. Landing on the unexplored region will enable Chang’e-4’s rover to better study the moon because of the lack of electromagnetic inter...