Moon mission, Chang’e 4: a Speedy landing

China wants to land as the first space nation on the far side of the moon. Officially, the space Agency of the country has announced no exact landing time for its lunar probe “Chang’e 4”. The Chinese state broadcaster CGTN reported, however, that the arrival on the surface this Thursday (3. January) is expected. The landing maneuver, it would be a historic success for China’s space program.

decades after the United States and Russia was the “Chang’e 3” for the first time in 2013 landed a Chinese probe on the moon. The “Chang’e 4”-Mission, however, is a real Premiere: never before a country has placed the device on the earth-facing side of the moon.

Difficult landing

“This has never been done. It will be of importance,“ said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the Chinese lunar programme, the German press Agency. Observers warned of challenges in the Mission: Difficult about the landing, because the site was on the far side of the moon as flat as on the front. The communication is difficult, because there is no direct radio connection to the back of the moon be established.

try to solve This Problem, the Chinese with a transmission satellite you specifically for this purpose in the orbit of the moon. “The whole process is quite complicated and it will be a lot of risks,” said Yu Guobin, a spokesman for the space programme in the state television.

investigations of the moon back

As provided for country place state media called the Aitken crater, which was named in 1970 after the American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken. After the arrival of a robotic vehicle to examine the ground and the structures around the landing point. It is equipped with a panoramic camera and measuring devices.