China explores far side of the moon: Science behind the mission explained

In a spectacular few days for solar system exploration – during which NASA whizzed the New Horizons spacecraft past the Kuiper Belt object 2009 MU69 (somewhat controversially nicknamed “Ultima Thule”) and eased OSIRIS-REx into orbit about the asteroid Bennu – the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) has set its Chang'e 4 lander and rover down on the far side of the moon.

Chang'e is the name of the Chinese moon goddess – and Chang'e 4 builds on the success of the Chang'e 3 lander, which touched