The far side of the moon, as photographed by the Chang’e-4 probe in an image released Thursday. (China National Space Administration/AFP/Getty Images) (Handout/AFP/Getty Images)In a first for the world, China has successfully landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration said Thursday as the nation announced its arrival as a bona fide space power. “The far side of the moon is a rare quiet place that is free from interference of radio signals from Earth,” mission spokesman Yu Guobin said. NASA is not currently developing any robotic spacecraft to operate on the moon’s surface. However, in November NASA announced it would begin contracting with private aerospace companies to send scientific payloads to the lunar surface.

Source: Washington Post January 03, 2019 05:22 UTC