The Chinese Gov't May Soon Be Exploring the Dark Side of the Moon

Tyler McNally | May 27, 2015
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The People's Republic of China is planning an exploration trip to the dark side of the moon, says CNN.

The project, if successful, would be the first ever landing on the dark side. The Chinese successfully landed a Chang'e-3 lunar rover in 2013.

The details of the proposed 2020 mission were announced on Chinese state television by chief engineer for China's Lunar Exploration Program Wu Weiren. "We probably will choose a site on which it is more difficult to land and more technically challenging... Our next move will probably see some spacecraft land on the far side of the moon."

The Chinese exploration program will see multiple steps before the proposed launch including launching the Chang-e5 spacecraft in 2017. The Chang-e5 craft will attempt to land on the lunar surface and relaunch towards Earth.

The Chinese increase in space exploration comes at a time when the official U.S. space exploration is slowed by the retirement of the Space Shuttle.

H/T CNN

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