For the first time, a spacecraft【航天器】 has landed on the side of the moon that is always facing away from Earth – an area that, until now, we had only seen from orbit【轨道】.
The China National Space Administration【中国国家航天局】’s Chang’e 4 lander launched on 7 December and has spent the past month reaching the correct orbit to attempt【尝试】 the historic landing.
The CNSA also launched a lunar satellite【卫星】 in May to facilitate【帮助】 communication with the lander, as there is never a direct line of sight between the moon’s far side and Earth.
That lack of visibility meant that Chang’e 4 had to make its landing almost completely autonomously【自主地】, with no input from mission control. At 10.26 am Beijing time on 3 January, the lander successfully touched down on the surface in an enormous depression called the South Pole-Aitken basin【南极艾特肯盆地】.
This basin is particularly important because it is thought to be a crater【坑】 from a huge impact during the moon’s early years. The impact may have punched through the crust【地壳】 and dug up rocks from deeper underground. If so, the spacecraft will be able to study these rocks to learn about the moon’s past as well as its present.
The mission will also help prepare for the moon’s possible future. Researchers are keen to send radio telescopes【射电望远镜】 to the far side of the moon, where radio wave pollution from Earth’s communications and power lines is blocked out.
Chang’e 4 is also carrying a “biosphere【生物圈】” with potato seeds, cress【水芹】 and silkworm larvae【蚕幼虫】to see if they can thrive in a sealed container【密封容器】 on the moon.
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