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China 'Lifts Mysterious Veil' by Landing Probe on Far Side of the Moon (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the marching-forward dept.

A Chinese space probe successfully touched down on the far side of the moon on Thursday, China's space agency said, hailing the event as a historic first and a major achievement for the country's space program. From a report: The Chang'e-4 lunar probe, launched in December, made the "soft landing" at 0226 GMT and transmitted the first-ever "close range" image of the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration said. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate as it orbits our planet, so most of the far side -- or "dark side" -- is never visible to us. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side, but none has landed on it. The landing "lifted the mysterious veil" of the far side of the moon and "opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration", the agency said in a statement on its website, which included a wide-angle color picture of a crater from the moon's surface.

47 comments

  1. 1973 by Koby77 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pink Floyd was actually the first to reach the Dark Side of the Moon.

    1. Re: 1973 by chill · · Score: 1

      The dark side and The far side are two different things.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    2. Re: 1973 by DalM · · Score: 2

      Exactly. One was a comic in the 1980's. Ran at the bottom of the comics page next to Family Circus.

    3. Re:1973 by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Yes, and they reported that there was no dark side of the moon, it was all dark. We will see if the Chinese confirm that.

    4. Re: 1973 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Look, I'm a cowboy! Howdy, howdy, howdy!"

    5. Re:1973 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pink Floyd was actually the first to reach the Dark Side of the Moon.

      Pink Floyd was first to build The Wall too, I don't care what the Chinese or Trump say about it.

    6. Re:1973 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also have a stupid question/comment. Or maybe this is just an ignorant question.
      So, the ship blasts off from the earth - we have all seen this many times on TV.
      Then it starts the long trip to the Moon, again they show this sort of thing all the time on TV.
      At the end, it uses thrusters to reverse thrust to land, again something we are all aware of.
      What they never mention, and I'm curious about, is the trip from Lunar orbit to the point where they start to land directly.
      It seems like they gloss over/fail to describe that part in all the diagrams.

    7. Re:1973 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that was Berlin dude.

    8. Re:1973 by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      There is a paper on that (pretty interesting):

      https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/A...

    9. Re: 1973 by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

      dark adjective
      \därk \
      Definition of dark ....
      4a : not clear to the understanding
      b : not known or explored because of remoteness
      the darkest reaches of the continent

      https://www.merriam-webster.co...

    10. Re: 1973 by chill · · Score: 1

      With the Moon, the "dark" side is just the half away from the sun. This changes as the moon revolves around the Earth. No one side is in perpetual darkness.

      the "far side" is the side that is facing away from Earth. As the moon is tidally locked, the far side doesn't change -- it is perpetually the far side. That's why we always see the same side when we look up.

      You could land on the "dark side" and land next to one of the Apollo landers, depending on the position of the moon at the time.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    11. Re: 1973 by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

      You didn't read my post, and you're stuck on but one of many meanings of "Dark".

      If you take definition #4 from the link I posted, "not known or explored because of remoteness" - it's perfectly valid. The non-Earth facing side of the moon is indeed not explored. That's the whole point of the article - this is the very first lander on the far side.

      The far side is indeed the dark side - in that it's far away from us and unexplored.
      Obviously it gets sunlight.

      My post was to point out that you're missing a very common definition of "dark", and you're stuck on but one shade of meaning.
      It's like saying that Darth Vader never steps into lit rooms because he uses the Dark Side of The Force. It's a different, valid, meaning of "dark".

    12. Re: 1973 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think they refer to the âoedark side of the moonâ is that there are no communications, not that its either light or dark by contrast.

  2. Dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://m.slashdot.org/story/350326

  3. How is this possible? by RadioD00d · · Score: 1

    Unless the laws of physics have been suspended in the last 40 years, I have vivid memory of the Apollo missions, when orbiting the Moon, 'going dark' while on the far side. Unless somebody has learned how to transmit radio waves through soil, I don't understand how a spacecraft on the dark side can send images or data. Is there a geosynchronous repeater somewhere that they're bouncing signals through?

    1. Re:How is this possible? by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Maybe you could read the dupe, three posts down.

      PS: "Yes".

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re:How is this possible? by Camembert · · Score: 1

      Yes indeed the Chinese use a repeater satellite.

    3. Re:How is this possible? by RadioD00d · · Score: 1

      Thank you

    4. Re:How is this possible? by DalM · · Score: 1

      A communication relay satellite, Queqiao, was first launched to a halo orbit near the Earth-Moon L2 point in May 2018. (Wikipedia)

    5. Re:How is this possible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the chinese were the first to be able to use quantum entanglement to transmit information, and thus were no longer bound by any pesky matter in the LOS dissipating the signal. :-D

      YMMV

    6. Re:How is this possible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      also, nearly instantaneous communication, and no limit on the distance wrt to output power.

      isn't the future amazing.

    7. Re:How is this possible? by nagora · · Score: 1

      There is an orbiting repeater which stores the info and then relays it when visible from Earth.

      --
      "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    8. Re:How is this possible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the same way you can talk to someone on the other side of the earth...

    9. Re:How is this possible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > the same way you can talk to someone on the other side of the earth...

      They have 4G on the moon now??

  4. There is a post on this already by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    Second post on the same subject on the same day?

    1. Re:There is a post on this already by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 1

      On the same page. Like 4 articles from eachother.
      Shitty editors.

      --
      I tend to rant.
    2. Re:There is a post on this already by sycodon · · Score: 1

      That's what happens when your editors work from home.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    3. Re:There is a post on this already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well weed is legal so fuck it.

  5. I know see why the USA feels "threatened" by China by bogaboga · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Previous spacecraft have seen the far side, but none has landed on it. The landing "lifted the mysterious veil" of the far side of the moon and "opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration", the agency said in a statement on its website, which included a wide-angle color picture of a crater from the moon's surface.

    China now has the "bragging rights" only the US and former Soviet Union (Russia) have. Further, China marches on with its artificial island construction even as the US "barks" hard.

    In short, while the US barks, China's "caravan moves on" like Putin once said. Good for them.

  6. WOW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    AH SO! Far side just like near side, only darker! Who would have guessed.

    1. Re:WOW! by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      AH SO! Far side just like near side, only darker! Who would have guessed.

      Not exactly. The far side is notably more rugged, while the near side is mostly covered with lave-plain 'maria'. This probe may be able to explore this difference.

    2. Re:WOW! by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Darker half the time, professor. Matter of fact it's daylight on the far side right now.

  7. Re:I know see why the USA feels "threatened" by Ch by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Not only bragging rights: they found out about the alien moonbase on the far side of the Moon that the US and Soviets knew about. This changes everything.

  8. Chinese Space Agency Logo by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Funny

    OMG! Star Trek is based on the Chinese!
    Chinese National Space Administration logo
    United Federation of Planets logo

    1. Re:Chinese Space Agency Logo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly this is just more evidence that no one has landed on the moon!

      They stole the logo from star trek because they spent all their "artist" money on creating the sound stage to look like the moon...

    2. Re:Chinese Space Agency Logo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      United Nations logo

    3. Re:Chinese Space Agency Logo by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      They didn't have much choice, since it was blasted out of orbit on 13 September 1999.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    4. Re:Chinese Space Agency Logo by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      You ever noticed why China is never mentioned in any ST episode? In fact it is, every single time. China IS the Federation!!!!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  9. Historical Maps by Ogive17 · · Score: 3, Funny

    And now all maps in China will reflect the moon has historically been part of Chinese territory.

    --
    "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    1. Re:Historical Maps by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      And now all maps in China will reflect the moon has historically been part of Chinese territory.

      You joke, but that is essentially how modern day China thinks. They have the imperialist tendencies or pre 1920s Europe.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Historical Maps by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      All maps on the moon reflect that China has historically been part of Lunar territory.

  10. Re:I know see why the USA feels "threatened" by Ch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not sure I'd go so far as saying Nazi's are aliens, but I guess you never know.

  11. Re: I know see why the USA feels "threatened" by C by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know the US and China got their bragging rights like.... 50+ years ago? And it only took the US 8 years to one up Russia.

    Not trying diminish China here, kudos to them. But let's not overblow this.

    The reality is that the US has little to fear from China and vice-verse.

  12. Re:I know see why the USA feels "threatened" by Ch by sycodon · · Score: 1

    Can't wait for a typhoon to come along in the South China sea.

    All those fake islands will be washed away overnight

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  13. Re: Now see why the USA feels "threatened" by Chia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And now, Iron Sky is coming out with a sequel!!!

  14. Congratulations to China by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 1

    Space exploration is a good thing for humanity.

    --
    Greed is the root of all evil.