China yesterday launched a relay satellite as part of a groundbreaking program to be the first to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon later this year.
The satellite, lofted into space aboard a Long March-4C rocket, is to facilitate communication between controllers on Earth and the Chang’e 4 mission, the China National Space Administration said on its Web site.
China hopes to become the first nation to soft-land a probe on the moon’s far side, also known as the dark side because it faces away from Earth and is comparatively unknown.
Photo: AFP
The satellite, named Queqiao, or “Magpie Bridge,” after an ancient Chinese folk tale, was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, the agency said.
The launch is a “key step,” but the satellite’s mission must still overcome challenges including making multiple adjustments to its orbit, “braking” near the moon and using lunar gravity to its advantage, project manager Zhang Lihua (張立華) was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
According to the agency and Web site space.com, Queqiao was expected to arrive at the Earth-moon Lagrange point 2, a gravitationally stable spot located 64,000km beyond the far side of the moon.
Without such a communications relay link, spacecraft on the far side would have to “send their signals through the moon’s rocky bulk,” space.com said.
China previously landed its Jade Rabbit rover on the moon and plans to land its Chang’e 5 probe there next year and have it return to Earth with samples — the first time that has been done since 1976.
China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, making it only the third nation after Russia and the US to do so, and has put a pair of space stations into orbit.
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