Chinese spacecraft to land on the dark side of the moon

Cue Pink Floyd

This will be a first for a landing on the dark side of the moon. That we know of.

Chang’e-4, which launches on December 8, is hoping to investigate the far side of the Moon’s surface and conduct the first investigations into whether plants will grow there.

The mission, comprising of a lander and a rover, will leave Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province and enter the Moon’s orbit before touching down in a massive crater near the Moon’s south pole.


It will map the region surrounding the landing site and measure the Moon’s layers using radar technology.