- Sputnik International
Asia
Find top stories and features from Asia and the Pacific region. Keep updated on major political stories and analyses from Asia and the Pacific. All you want to know about China, Japan, North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

China Tests New Rocket, Gets Ready to Build Lunar Base on Dark Side of Moon

© Flickr / NASA's Marshall Space Flight CenterAlongside with the United States and Russia, China is the only nation that has landed on the moon’s surface.
Alongside with the United States and Russia, China is the only nation that has landed on the moon’s surface. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
It looks like the Chinese are going to the dark side of the moon, as their scientists have successfully tested the power system of a Long March-5 carrier rocket on Monday that will serve the Chang’e-5 lunar mission in 2017, Xinhua reported.

The engines of the rocket were launched from the ground. It was a good final test before the actual rocket launch next year, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

China aims to become the first country to land on the far side of the moon and build a base camp for astronauts within the next few years.

The mission will also involve making probes from the far side of the moon, test data relay and communication capabilities from that part of the moon and demonstrate the capabilities of lunar night power generation, HNGN said.

This picture taken 21 July 1969 of astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. walking on the surface of the moon near the leg of the Lunar Module (ML) Eagle and astronaut Neil Armstrong, during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA). NASA no longer knows the whereabouts of the original tapes of man's first landing on the moon nearly 40 years ago, an official of the US space agency said 15 August 2006 - Sputnik International
Multimedia
Small Step for Man: Remembering the Moon Landing
Not much is known about the far side of the moon, also known as the "dark side," as it has never been properly explored.

US astronaut Jack Schmitt proposed to explore the far side of the moon in the 1970s, but NASA declined his proposal, stating that the side that doesn't face the Earth was rugged and dangerous, HNGN reported.  

China is willing to collaborate with other countries for its planned mission. The problem is that NASA is banned from working with China, Discovery said.

Alongside with the United States and Russia, China is the only nation that has landed on the moon's surface.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала