China may achieve a feat never attempted by the US or USSR – landing on the far side of the moonThis time next year,there may be a modern world leader in lunar exploration. whether all goes according to way, China will have done something no other space-faring superpower has been able to do: land on the far side of the moon. China is rocketing ahead with its plans for lunar exploration. In 2018, and they will launch a pair of missions known collectively as Chang’e 4. It is the fourth mission in a series named after the Chinese moon goddess.
The first component of Chang’e 4 is scheduled to lift off in June. It will be a relay satellite stationed some 60,000km behind the moon and will provide a communications link between soil and the lunar far side. Once this link is established, it will allow China to send the second part of the mission: a lander to the far side’s surface.
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Source: guardian.co.uk