OUTER SPACE
Chinese on the dark side of the moon
China made history yesterday landing a rover on the far side of our planet’s moon. Whilst a soviet satellite has photographed this side of the moon as far back as the 1950s, until now, no one had ever landed a craft there. The probe Chang’e 4, undertook a breathtaking landing in an area called the Von Karman Crater, surrounded by mountains up to 10km in altitude. It was controlled by a satellite which also handled the transmission of images and data back to the Chinese National Space Administration. Upon landing the probe deployed solar panels and antennas and begun its work. Its mission will be to analyse the moon, using low-frequency radio waves, geological analysis to determine mineral composition, astronomical observations, and photography. The eventual goal of the Asian superpower’s space programme is to send a manned vessel to the moon, possibly as early as 2036.