China Lands on the Far Side of the Moon

China achieves what no one has done before by successfully soft-landing a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. Communication is made possible by a lunar satellite China launched in May last year.

Last night, China achieved a first by successfully soft-landing a spacecraft in a crater on the far side of the Moon. The achievement is not only impressive, it also opens the way for scientist to explore the Aitken Basin and figure out exactly how old this giant crater is.

As The Verge reports, exploring the far side of the Moon is a very difficult task because it's always facing away from the Earth meaning communication is extremely difficult. China solved that problem last year when it launched a lunar satellite called Queqiao, which now acts as the communication link between the lander and Earth.