January is shaping up to be an exciting month for the moon. Nearly 50 years after the Apollo 11 miss
January is shaping up to be an exciting month for the moon. Nearly 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission put people on our nearest celestial neighbor for the first time, China’s Chang’e-4 mission marked another lunar milestone Thursday: visiting the far side of the moon.So far, all lunar missions have landed on the moon’s near-side. According to Chinese state media, Chang’e-4 (the latest in a series of Chinese lunar missions) targeted the side that’s always out of Earth view due tidal locking. What the far side of the moon looks like wasn’t known to us until it was photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 mission in 1959. China’s latest mission (which includes a lander and a rover) is slated to do some interesting research. According to The New York Times: “The instruments will probe the structure of the rocks beneath the spacecraft and study the effects of the solar wind striking the lunar surface. Chang’e-4 will also test the ability of making radio astronomy observations from the far side of the moon, without the effects of noise and interference from Earth.“According to the Xinhua news agency, Chang’e-4 is also carrying an intriguing biology experiment to see if plant seeds will germinate and silkworm eggs will hatch in the moon’s low gravity.”Both Israel and India are planning additional lunar missions in 2019. And China is readying another Chang’e mission, which ultimately could return lunar samples from the moon’s surface back to Earth.Read the full story: Rocket Launches, Trips to the Moon and More Space and Astronomy Events in 2019 China’s Moon Landing: ‘New Chapter in Humanity’s Exploration of the Moon’Note: This post was updated at 8:00 AM ET.(Image Credit: NASA/NOAA) -- source link