China is planning the first ever landing of a probe on the far side of the moon, a leading engineer has said. The Chang'e 4 mission is planned for some time before 2020 and is part of China’s increasing space programme. The aim is to study geological conditions on the moon’s far side.
This is according to Zou Yongliao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' moon exploration department, who shared the plans with state broadcaster CCTV in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. If the mission is successful, it could eventually lead to the launch of a radio telescope to the moon for use by astronomers. Zou explained the far side of the moon has a clean electromagnetic environment, making it an ideal location for sensitive instruments and low frequency radio for long distance communications.
Radio transmissions from Earth are unable to reach the moon's far side, making it an excellent location for sensitive instruments. China's next lunar mission is scheduled for 2017, when it will attempt to land an unmanned spaceship on the moon before returning to Earth with samples of rock and lunar soil.
Li Chunlai, a lead designer on the Chang'e 5 project, said it will achieve a number of break-throughs, including automatic sampling, taking off from the moon without a launch site and an unmanned docking 248,548 miles (400,000km) from the moon's surface, according to Xinhua.
China's lunar exploration program has already launched a pair of orbiting lunar probes, and in 2013 landed a craft on the moon with a rover onboard. China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003 and has powered ahead with a series of methodically timed steps, including the deploying of an experimental space station.
Only 12 men have landed on the moon, beginning with the Apollo 11 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. Jack Schmitt and Gene Cernan were the last on Apollo 17 on December 14, 1972.
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