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| Change'4 Mission |
China's Chang'e 4 lunar probe made a soft landing on the moon on 3 January 2019. It's unique in many ways than other lunar missions of US, Russia, India and other countries.
Chang'e 4 as the name suggests is the 4th probe in China's lunar mission series. The probe has been named as Chang'e after the name of moon goddess in Chinese mythology.
This mission is very important for China as well as for the whole humanity as it is the first mission ever to land on the far side of the moon.
China launched this probe from Xinchang satellite launch centre. China and India both are latecomers to this field of space exploration but they have already shown the world what they are capable of.
China started its lunar mission in 2004 and by the year of early 2019, it has already sent 4 probes to the moon.
The Moon as the natural satellite of the Earth has always been at the centre of curiosity for Human beings on earth.
We always see one side of the moon which is known as near side and the side of the moon which we don't get to see is the far side of the moon.
There has been several missions by various countries to the near side of the moon. But China's Chang'e 4 is the first probe which will explore the far side of the moon.
You might be thinking why we don't see the far side of the moon. Because Moon rotates at the same rate as it revolves around the earth i.e. Moon is tidally locked with the Earth. So one side of the moon always gave the Earth. The far side of the moon is also known as dark side.
The dark side also receives sunlight and never remains dark. The far side is called dark side because we know little about it.
In 1959 Soviet probe Luna 3 sent pictures of far side of the moon for the first time.
Chang'e 4 consists of one robotic lander and one Yutu 2 rover. The lander carries landing camera,terrain camera and low frequency spectrometer. The rover carries a panoramic camera, lunar penetration radar, visible and near infrared imaging spectrometer. It has a relay communication satellite which will help to send the pictures taken by the lander and rover back to earth.
It was a challenge before the CNSA (Chinese National Space Administration) to land the probe in the South Pole-Aitken Basin area. Aitken Basin is a large area spread over 2500 km and having a depth of 13 km. It is the largest, oldest and deepest crater on the surface of the moon. It is one of the largest known impact crater on the whole solar system as well.
You might be thinking what is an impact crater. An impact crater is formed on any planetary object when an asteroid or meteor hits that object at a very high speed.
Both Moon and Earth have impact craters on their surface. While Moon has many impact craters but Earth has a few of them.
You might be wandering why does it so.
Erosion of rocks due to weathering occurs on earth while it doesn't happen on moon. So a slight depression on moon surface remains there for a long period of time.
Change'4 landed on a specific location called Von Kármán crater within the Aitken Basin area. While the lander will stay at that location the rover will roam on a vast area for 3 months as expected.
What are the objectives of Chang'e 4 mission?
1. Mineral Exploration: It is believed that Aitken Basin is rich in minerals. The rover and lander will study the presence of minerals and their chemical composition with the help of penetrating radar in and around the Aitken basin.
China desperately wants to extract any minerals present in the moon before any other country does.
2. History and Evolution of the moon: The far side of the moon is different from the near side of the moon in many ways. Exposed crust and mantel in the impact craters could provide valuable information about the History and evolution of Earth. As the craters on the moon has remained so as they were before billions of years it can be possible ground to know the evolution of the universe in more detail.
3. Study of low frequency radio astronomy: Moon's far side is free from noises from the radio waves of Earth. So it can be a good place to carry out a study on low frequency radio waves coming from extra territorial objects. China is planning to establish a radio telescope there.
4. Biological study: The probe also has biological aspects. It will study the possibility of sprouting and hatching of eggs of fruit flies there as well.
China has many more ambitious goals on the success of this mission. China's upcoming Chang'e 5 and 6 will be crewed lunar missions which are expected to be launched by 2030.
China has surely taken a lead in the deep space exploration. China expects to set up a space station on the moon. It has goals to colonise the moon as well. China is desperately pushing private investment to keep these costly missions going.
China is reigniting the space race which was intense in the 60s between the US and USSR. China is filling the vacuums left by the US in domains of Trade, Technology, Political dominance and space exploration as well.
Countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Russia have contributed to this mission. By it, China shows Chang'e 4 as a mission of cooperation for human development.
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