TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Chinese lunar explorer Chang’e 4 (嫦娥四號) landed on the side of the moon facing away from Earth on Thursday morning, according to the Chinese state media.
The spacecraft left southern China on a Long March 3B rocket last December 8, while earlier, a satellite had been launched to provide communications between the explorer and mission control, the Associated Press reported.
Chang’e 4, named after the Chinese Moon Goddess, carries a vehicle which will assist with the task of exploring the terrain’s structure and the mineral composition of what is popularly known as the “dark side of the moon.”
China Central Television announced the landing of the spacecraft on the moon as the main item on its noon news and said it had occurred at 10:26 a.m. Thursday.
The communist country is working on an intensive program of lunar exploration, with Chang’e 3 landing on the moon in 2013 as the first craft since a Soviet device in 1976. Next year, Chang’e 5 should bring samples back from the moon, also a first since 1976, according to the Associated Press.
