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Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission
Why is it in news?
- China launched a rover destined to land on the far side of the moon.
- A global first that would boost Beijing’s ambitions to become a space superpower.
More about mission
- 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 center.
- Chang’e-4 is humanity’s first probe to land on and explore the far side of the moon.
- 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.
- It was not until 1959 that the Soviet Union captured the first images of the heavily cratered surface, uncloaking some of the mystery of the moon’s “dark side”.
- No lander or rover has ever touched the surface there, positioning China as the first to explore the area.
Source
The Hindu