Record #00154Space archive
China's National Space Administration records that at 10:26 Beijing time on 3 January 2019 the Chang'e 4 probe landed autonomously inside Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon — the first soft landing by any spacecraft on the lunar far side.
Achievement date
2019
2019-01-03
At 10:26 Beijing time on 3 January 2019, the Chang'e 4 probe landed autonomously in the preselected landing area near 177.6 degrees east and 45.5 degrees south on the far side of the Moon, on the floor of Von Kármán crater within the South Pole-Aitken Basin.
China's National Space Administration records that the mission achieved the first soft landing by a spacecraft on the lunar far side and the first relay communication between Earth and the far side, opening a new chapter in lunar exploration.
The Chang'e 4 probe consists of a lander and a rover; the lander acquired and returned the world's first close-up image of the lunar far side at 11:40 that day, and the Yutu-2 rover later drove down onto the surface.
NASA records that the landing site lies on the floor of Von Kármán crater, about 186 kilometres in diameter, and that on 30 January 2019 its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the lander at that location.
The record conclusion has sufficient verification support.
Verification explanation pending
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