China’s ambitious space program is going where no other program has gone before: the far side of the moon. Landing in this unexplored region will enable Chang’e-4’s rover to better study the moon and space because of the lack of electromagnetic interference from Earth. None of the government agencies involved in the space program — including the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense; China’s National Space Administration; and China’s Lunar and Deep Space Exploration — have published details of the Chang’e-4 launch. The country also plans to launch its first Mars probe by the end of this decade, according to a white paper on China’s space activities issued in 2016. The nation wants to be one of the world’s top three aerospace powers by 2030, Wu Yanhua, vice administrator of the China National Space Administration, said last year.

Source: National Post December 07, 2018 14:15 UTC