Thursday, November 14th, 2024
Home »General News » World » China launches rover for first far side of the moon landing

  • News Desk
  • Dec 8th, 2018
  • Comments Off on China launches rover for first far side of the moon landing
China launched a rover early Saturday morning destined to land on the far side of the moon, a global first that would boost Beijing's ambitions to become a space superpower.

The Chang'e-4 lunar probe mission - named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology - launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the southwestern Xichang launch centre in the pre-dawn hours, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The successful launch marked the start of a long journey to the far side of the moon for the Chang'e-4 mission, which is expected to land around the New Year to carry out experiments and explore the untrodden terrain. Unlike the near side of the moon that is "tidally locked" and always faces the earth, and offers many flat areas to touch down on, the far side is mountainous and rugged.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018


the author

Top
Close
Close