China lands on the far side of the moon

[GNDN18]

By Sarah Kaplan and
Gerry Shih
January 3 at 12:13 AM

“The far side of the moon is a rare quiet place that is free from interference of radio signals from Earth,” mission spokesman Yu Guobin said. “This probe can fill the gap of low-frequency observation in radio astronomy and will provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula evolution.”

Though China, the United States and Russia have operated robotic spacecraft on the moon before, Chang’e 4 is the first to land on the side of the satellite that always faces away from the Earth. The geology on this side of the moon is distinctive, with more craters and less evidence of volcanic activity. But it’s difficult to explore, because scientists on Earth can’t communicate via direct radio signal with spacecraft in this remote region — something China’s relay satellite has solved.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

What do you get when you cross the Starfleet logo and the UFP flag? I hope CNS pays Paramount royalties...

 

[BillJ]

Now we'll find dem aliens!!!

 

[feek61]

Great accomplishment. I wish the U.S. had the vision to do such things but we are too distracted.

 

[Santaman]

Not bad, they're planning a space station and a moon base as well.

 

[Marc]

Given the dark side of the moon is permamently facing away from Earth, I'm wonder how they are transmitting the data back to Earth?

 

[GNDN18]

Given the dark side of the moon is permamently facing away from Earth, I'm wonder how they are transmitting the data back to Earth?

That's what held up the US effort. A professor from Brown University said on NPR this morning that the Apollo program studied the feasibility of a far-side landing, but the contemporary cost and complexity of the necessary communications satellite was prohibitive.

 

[feek61]

There is a communications satellite in orbit around the moon.

 

[GNDN18]

There is a communications satellite in orbit around the moon.

I think I was distracted by something shiny when I wrote earlier. Yes, there is a satellite now--one that China put into lunar orbit. As noted in the Washington Post article:

. The geology on this side of the moon is distinctive, with more craters and less evidence of volcanic activity. But it is difficult to explore, because scientists on Earth cannot communicate via direct radio signal with spacecraft in this remote region — a quandary China’s relay satellite has solved.

As I said, NASA considered exploring the far side, but cost and technological issues put that off to another day. That day never came for the US because space exploration priorities shifted away from lunar expeditions.

 

[Mysterion]

Willing to bet that the next person to set foot on the moon will be speaking Mandarin.

 

[Galileo7]

Then eventually build Alpha or Clavius.

 

[arch101]

Funny how the Chinese pics depict a landscape awfully similar to the backgrounds of NASA’s faked landings

 

[MANT!]

/\ Boo..Hiss... Kudo's to the Chinese, Now for the Nuclear Waste Dumps..

 

[JirinPanthosa]

China's as interested in symbolic global leadership now as the US and Russia were in the 60s, so it makes sense they're targeting 'Firsts' on the space front.

I wonder if I went to Youtube I could find a version of Dark Side of the Moon translated to Mandarin.

 

[scotpens]

Given the dark side of the moon is permamently facing away from Earth . . .

No, the far side of the Moon always faces away from the Earth. The dark side constantly changes as the Moon goes through its phases.

The only time the dark side and the far side are the same is when there's a full moon.

 

[Dryson]

Funny how the Chinese pics depict a landscape awfully similar to the backgrounds of NASA’s faked landings

Prove that the Moon landings were faked.

 

[Dryson]

Great accomplishment. I wish the U.S. had the vision to do such things but we are too distracted.

Not really distracted but politicians in the U.S. are more concerned with their political scams that they make large amounts of money from.

 

[arch101]

Prove that the Moon landings were faked.

You knew I was kidding, right?

Oh, noticed the smilie emoji didn't go on the post as intended. Sorry.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Willing to bet that the next person to set foot on the moon will be speaking Mandarin.

So, how long will it takes before conspiratorial nutjobs say China faked the landing?

 

[GNDN18]

^^^
Jan 4, 2019, at 5:38 PM EST.

ETA