China plans to stake their claim on lunar history by launching their own probe to the moon. The planned probe carries the name 'Chang'e 4'-for the moment and it was revealed on Wednesday. It will be launched during a mission in December and is set to explore the far side of the moon.
Wu Weiren, the chief engineer overseeing China's lunar expedition program, gave the public a chance to contribute to the naming of the lunar probe. He spoke at the probe's inaugural ceremony, explaining that it was so named since it's the predecessor of the 'Chang'e 3,' but with some improvements. The Chang'e 4, China Daily reports, has two stages-it contains a lander and a rover with scientific instruments to measure the moon's surface.
In addition, Wu noted, the rover went through extensive testing and received many modifications to improve performance and endurance. The rover, he adds, has a 'lunar penetrating radar,' which will attempt to capture a geologic cross-section of our closest neighbor in space. He also stressed that the lunar probe is, by far, the lightest lunar probe mankind will send to the moon.
China released images of the lunar probe, which carries the hopes of the entire country as well as the whole world. No one has yet been able to explore the far side of the moon, and China hopes to be the first to accomplish such a feat. The lunar probe, upon landing, will touch base with the Aitken basin, a part of the moon not seen from the Earth.
The 'Chang'e 4' carries similarities with the Yutu, China's first-ever lunar rover that was launched with the probe's predecessor to the moon. First Post says that to this day, the Yutu is doing its role, probing a visible part of the moon.
China initiated its lunar program last May, launching a satellite that will help maintain communications from the moon and to control centers at the mission control centers in China. It will also deliver more information from the moon to scientists waiting on Earth, with most data something never before captured by the scientists, thanks to its area of exploration.
Aside from observing the far side of the moon, the location of the probe's exploration makes it well-poised to launch an investigation into what occurs in deep space far better than any other probe currently on the moon.
