Chinese spacecraft becomes first to land on far side of the moon
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A Chinese spacecraft has become the first to land on the far side of the moon, according to state media.
The lunar explorer Chang’e 4 touched down on Thursday morning Beijing time (just before 2.30am GMT), official China Central Television said.
Soon after landing, it transmitted the first “close range” images of the moon’s far side – somewhere previous spacecraft have seen but never landed on.
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It “lifted the mysterious veil” and “opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration”, according to the state broadcaster.
Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the probe, added: “The whole process was as expected, the result was pretty precise and the landing was very stable.
“The current landing location is our most ideal landing place, in other word, we are right on target.”
The probe, containing a lander and a rover, was launched on a Long March 3B rocket from Xichang in the south of the country on 8 December.
Chang’e 4 and its three predecessors were named after a Chinese goddess, who legend says has lived on the moon for thousands of years.
Chinese state media said at the time that the area being targeted was the Aitken Basin, an impact crater about eight miles deep in the lunar south pole region.
The successful landing was touted as a “huge feather in China’s cap” by Malcolm Davis, senior analyst in defence strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
“There’s a lot of geopolitics or astropolitics about this, it’s not just a scientific mission, this is all about China’s rise as a superpower,” said Davis. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the space program in China. There’s a lot of nationalism in China, they see China’s role in space as a key part of their rise.”
The landing was greeted as “an impressive accomplishment” by Nasa administrator Jim Brindestine.
A spokesperson from the Australian Space Agency said the agency did not have a comment on the mission except to offer China its congratulations on the success of the landing and to “wish them all the best”.
