The probe has entered a planned orbit ahead of humanity's first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, the one that is never visible from Earth. The rover will analyze a large crater known as Aitken basin.
Image: picture-alliance/Xinhua
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China's Chang'e 4 probe is preparing to make the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon this week, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.
The probe entered a planned elliptical lunar orbit on Sunday morning, which at its closest point, brought it just 15 kilometers (9 miles) away from the surface of the moon, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the China National Space Administration.
The landing is expected to take place on Thursday and marks another critical step in the country's ambitions to challenge US and Russian dominance in space.
The launch of the probe, named after the Chinese goddess of the moon, was originally due to take place in 2015 but was delayed by adjustments to the mission's objectives. It finally launched on December 8 and entered lunar orbit five days later.
A communications relay satellite, the Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge, which launched in May, is aiding the probe's descent.
Chang'e-4 was launched on December 8, 2018Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Xinhua said the probe's ground control center in Beijing had tested communication links between the probe and the satellite and checked the imaging instruments and ranging detectors on the probe ahead of the landing.
Long list of objectives
Once it makes its soft landing, Chang'e 4's tasks include surveying the moon's terrain and gathering data on landform and mineral composition, particularly of the Aitken basin, one of the largest craters in the solar system.
The probe is carrying seeds for an experiment in cultivating vegetables in a closed environment on the lunar surface. It's also equipped with a panorama camera and measuring devices.
The far side of the moon is known as the "dark" side in the sense that it is not visible from Earth, as the moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating on its axis at roughly the same rate that it orbits our planet.
China's first flight to the moon: Jade Rabbit has landed
On Saturday (14.12.2013) China became the third nation to land a spacecraft on the moon: China's Chang'e-3 lander carrying the Jade Rabbit rover made the first soft lunar landing in nearly 40 years.
Image: Neil Armstrong/NASA/Getty Images
The big moment
It looked like a computer game when the Chang'e-3 lander was seen touching down on the lunar surface at the Beijing Space Control Center at 9 p.m. local time. Huge monitors showed the first landing of a Chinese spacecraft on the moon.
Image: Reuters
Discovery tour
The lander with the Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, lunar rover stands in hilly boulders with the earth far away. After the US and the former Soviet Union, China is the third nation to land on the moon. The rover made its first movements on Sunday.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Across the moon with six wheels
The six-wheeled rover weighs 140 kilograms (306 lb) and is solar-powered. It will explore the surface of the moon for three months. It moves at a speed of up to 200 meters (600 feet) per hour. Experts see the moon landing as the most difficult mission of China's ambitious space program. More than 80 percent of the technology has been used for the first time.
Image: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
A 12-day journey
Two weeks ago the launcher rocket Chang'e-3 transported the rover into space. It then entered an elliptical orbit around the moon. Unlike the earlier flights to the moon from the US and the Soviet Union, Chang'e-3 could remain in orbit to search for a landing place. The main purpose of the mission is to boost China's prestige.
Image: Reuters
The rabbit in the moon
The spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. She was the companion of Yulu, the mythological lunar or jade rabbit that can be seen in the outlines of the lunar seas. Three million Chinese voted in an online poll to name the rover.
Image: Reuters
The space race during the cold war
The Chinese mission to the moon is the first in a long time. The last probe to land on the moon was the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976. Beginning in the 1950s, the US and the Soviet Union engaged in a fierce space race. The Soviet Lunokhod 1, launched in 1970, was the first roving remote-controlled robot to reach another celestial body.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Man on the moon
The most important step was the American Apollo 11 mission in July 1969, which marked the first time humans had set foot on another celestial body. The picture of astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin standing on the moon next to an American flag is one of humanity's best-known images.
Image: NASA/Newsmakers
The world was watching
The Apollo program fascinated people around the world. Some 600 million people watched the moon landing live on TV. After nearly 22 hours on the surface the lander left the moon. Despite copious evidence to the contrary, conspiracy theorists still believe that the pictures were faked in a TV studio.
Image: Neil Armstrong/NASA/Getty Images
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The far side has long fascinated scientists but was only first observed and photographed in 1959 by the Soviet space probe Luna 3. The Apollo 8 astronauts were the first to see it with the naked eye. But no one has ever landed on it.
The near side, however, has been reached before, by US astronauts between 1969 and 1972, and the Soviets in 1976. It took a further 40 years before China would make its first landing on the side visible to Earth, in 2013, with the Chang'e 3 probe.
China's ambition of becoming a major space power by 2030 has concerned the US and Russia. Washington has warned that the space program seeks to prevent other nations from using space-based assets during a crisis, while Beijing insists its ambitions are purely peaceful.
Beijing plans to begin construction of its own manned space station next year.
