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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.

5 of 47 comments (clear)

  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 DalM · · Score: 2

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

  2. 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.

  3. 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

  4. 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."