China Lands Spacecraft on 'Dark' Side of Moon

 

China’s space program has become the first to land a spacecraft on the so-called dark side of the moon. The landing on Thursday brought the country closer to its goal of becoming a space power.

The China National Space Administration said the landing of the Chang’e 4 spacecraft at 10:26 in the morning Beijing Time has “opened up a new chapter in human lunar exploration.”

Chang’e 4 sent a picture taken at 11:40 in the morning back to Earth. It shows a small crater¹ and an empty surface that appears to be lit by a light from the lunar explorer.

The name Chang’e comes from a Chinese goddess that many Chinese believe has lived on the moon for thousands of years.

The landing is an example of China’s growing desire to compete with the American, Russian and European space programs. China also wants to strengthen its position as a regional and international power.

Soon after President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, he said, “The space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger.”

Hou Xiyun is a professor at Nanjing University’s school of astronomy and space science. He told the Associated Press, “On the whole, China’s space technology still lags behind the West, but with the landing on the far side of the moon, we have raced to the front.”

He added that China plans to explore Mars, Jupiter and asteroids³ in the future. “There’s no doubt that our nation will go farther and farther,” he said.

In 2013, Chang’e 3 made the first moon landing since the former Soviet⁴ Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. The United States is the only country that has successfully sent a person to the moon. But China is considering a crewed mission, as well.

For now, China plans to send a Chang’e 5 spacecraft to the moon next year and have it return to Earth with collected particles.

The moon’s far side is not always dark. But it is often called the dark side because it faces away from Earth and little is known about it.

Chang’e 4 will make astronomical⁵ observations and examine the structure and mineral composition of the ground above and below the surface.

Yu Guobin is a Chang’e 4 mission spokesman. He said, “The far side of the moon is a rare quiet place that is free from interference from radio signals from Earth.”

He added the mission will “provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula⁶ evolution.”

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Yu’s comments.

One difficulty of operating on the far side of the moon is communicating with Earth. Last May, China launched a satellite so that Chang’e 4 could send back information.

China carried out its first crewed space mission in 2003. It became only the third country to do so after Russia and the United States.

China has two space stations in orbit and plans to launch a Mars exploration vehicle in the mid-2020s. Its space program suffered a rare delay last year with the failed launch of its Long March 5 rocket.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

crater – n. a large round hole in the ground made by the explosion of a bomb or by something falling from the sky

lag – v. to be in a position that is behind others

lunar – adj. of or relating to the moon

nebula – n. a cloud of gas or dust in space that can sometimes be seen at night; a group of stars that are very far away and look like a bright cloud at night

origin – n. the point or place where something begins or is created; the source or cause of something

asteroid² – n. any one of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun

regional – adj. relating to a part of a country, of the world, etc. that is different or separate from other parts in some way

1 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

2 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

3 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

6 nebula   

n.星云，喷雾剂

参考例句：

• A powerful telescope can resolve a nebula into stars.一架高性能的望远镜能从星云中分辨出星球来。
• A nebula is really a discrete mass of innumerous stars.一团星云实际上是无数星体不连续的集合体。