China makes 1st-ever landing on moon's mysterious far side
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer
January 03, 2019, 9:43:42 AM EST
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Humanity just planted its flag on the far side of the moon.
China's robotic Chang'e 4 mission touched down on the floor of the 115-mile-wide (186 kilometers) Von Kármán Crater Wednesday night (Jan. 2), pulling off the first-ever soft landing on the mysterious lunar far side.
The first image of the moon's far side taken by China's Chang'e 4 probe, which touched down on Jan. 2, 2019 (Jan. 3 Beijing time). (Photo/CNSA)
Chang'e 4 will perform a variety of science work over the coming months, potentially helping scientists better understand the structure, formation and evolution of Earth's natural satellite. But the symbolic pull of the mission will resonate more with the masses: The list of unexplored locales in our solar system just got a little shorter.
The epic touchdown — which took place at 9:26 p.m. EST (0226 GMT and 10:26 a.m. Beijing time on Jan. 3), according to Chinese space officials — followed closely on the heels of two big NASA spaceflight milestones. On Dec. 31, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered orbit around the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, and the New Horizons probe zoomed past the distant object Ultima Thule just after midnight on Jan. 1.
"Congratulations to China's Chang'e 4 team for what appears to be a successful landing on the far side of the moon. This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment!" NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said via Twitter Wednesday night, after word of the milestone began circulating on social media.
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