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| By China National Space Administration via Xinhua News Agency, Yutu-2, China's lunar rover, leaves wheel marks after leaving the lander that touched down on the surface of the far side of the moon. A Chinese spacecraft on Thursday, Jan. 3, made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon, state media said. The lunar explorer Chang'e 4 touched down at 10:26 a.m., China Central Television said in a brief announcement at the top of its noon news broadcast (China National Space Administration/Xinhua News Agency via AP). |
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BEIJING, China - The Chinese
rover on the "dark" side of the moon is making its tracks on the soft
lunar surface.
The Jade Rabbit 2 rover drove off its lander's ramp and
onto the soft, snow-like surface at 10:22 p.m. Thursday, about 12 hours
after a Chinese spacecraft made the first-ever landing on the moon's far
side.
A photo posted online by China's space agency showed tracks the
rover left as headed away from the spacecraft.
"It's a small step for the rover, but one giant
leap for the Chinese nation," Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar
Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV. "This giant leap is a
decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the
universe."
Exploring the cosmos from the far side of the moon
could eventually help scientists learn more about the early days of the
solar system and even the birth of the universe's first stars. The far
side can't be seen from Earth and is popularly called the "dark side"
because it is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight.
Three nations — the United States, the former
Soviet Union, and more recently China — have sent spacecraft to the near
side of the moon, but the latest landing is the first on the far side.
That side has been observed many times from lunar orbit but never up
close.
The
mission highlights China's growing ambitions to rival the U.S., Russia,
and Europe in space and, more broadly, to cement its position as a
regional and global power. More
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