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Why in news ? :

• Chinese probe, the Chang’e-4, has entered a planned orbit “to prepare for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon”. China launched the Chang’e-4 probe earlier this month, carried by a Long March-3B rocket.

Background:

• The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate that it orbits our planet, so the far side is never visible from Earth. The probe, the Chang’e-4, is expected to make the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side of the Moon, but none has landed on it.
• The far side of the moon known as ‘South Pole-Aitken Basin’ still remains a mystery among space scientists and by sending a probe there, China will outdo the historical achievements of the US and USSR.

About the mission

• Chang’e 4 is the fourth mission in the country’s lunar mission series which is being named after the Chinese moon goddess.
• The tasks of the Chang’e-4 probe includes low-frequency radio astronomical observation, surveying the terrain and landforms, detecting the mineral composition, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment on the far side of the moon.

Objectives of the mission

• To measure lunar surface temperature over the duration of the mission.
• Measure the chemical compositions of lunar rocks and soils.
• Carry out low-frequency radio astronomical observation and research.
• Study of cosmic rays.
• Observe the solar corona, investigate its radiation characteristics and mechanism, and to explore the evolution and transport of coronal mass ejections (CME) between the Sun and Earth.

Significance of the mission

• According to experts, landing on the far side of the moon is undoubtedly one of the most challenging missions ever launched by any of the world’s superpowers.
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History of China’s lunar exploration programmes:

• China began their lunar exploration program in 2007 by launching a simple lunar orbiter named ‘Chang’e 1’. The second mission in the program named ‘Chang’e 2’ was launched in 2010, and it was later followed by the third mission ‘Chang’e 3’. ‘Chang’e 3’ made headlines all around the world as it marked the first soft moon landing since 1976.