03 January 2019
China's Chang'e 4 probe touched down on the far side of the Moon on 3 January, becoming the first spacecraft soft-landing on the Moon's uncharted side that is never visible from Earth. The probe comprised of a lander and a rover, touched down at the pre-selected landing area at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude on the far side of the Moon at 10:26 a.m. (Beijing Time), the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. With the communication assistance of the relay satellite Queqiao, meaning Magpie Bridge, the probe sent back the first-ever close-up photograph of the moon's far side, opening a new chapter in lunar exploration.
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related: Breathtaking 12 minutes for Chang'e 4's landing

2019 Is Already A Busy Space Year - NASA Watch editor Keith Cowing talks about Chang'e 4 on CGTN 3 hours before the landing of Chang'e 4 was confirmed.
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NASA congratulates - Twitter post by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine:
Congratulations to China’s Chang’e-4 team for what appears to be a successful landing on the far side of the Moon. This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment!

04 January 2019
China's second lunar rover has driven on the far side of the Moon, which is expected to bring more scientific discoveries from the alien world. The new rover, named Yutu 2, or literally Jade Rabbit 2, separated from the lander and descended on the lunar surface Thursday night, leaving the first "footprints" on the loose lunar soil, which will be seen for thousands of years as the moon has no wind or rain. Although the rover of the Chang'e 4 probe looks similar to its predecessor Yutu of the Chang'e 3 probe, Chinese space engineers have made it lighter, smarter, stronger and more reliable.
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Scientists expect breakthrough findings on Moon's far side

China names  new Moon rover "Yutu 2"

Landing images of Moon's far side captured by Chang'e-4 landing camera

04 January 2019
A lander, rover and relay satellite named Queqiao jointly completed the landing, and now serve to communicate between the Moon and Earth, said Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the Chang'e 4 probe, from the China Academy of Space Technology. The mission has conquered at least three difficulties so far.
The first was to position the Queqiao relay satellite at the second Lagrangian (L2) point of the Earth-Moon system, about 79,000 km from the Moon and 40,000 km from Earth, where it can see both Earth and the Moon's far side.
The second, Sun said, was to guarantee the accuracy and reliability of the relay satellite for Moon-Earth communication and to access the probe's control system. The third was the safe landing of the probe in the designated area, which has many geological features, said Wu Weiren, the Chief Designer of China's lunar probe programme. “If the probe couldn’t find a safe landing area, it would have kept adjusting itself until a relatively safe spot was found,” Sun introduced.
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04 January 2019
It’s never been done before, even by space-faring nations with decades of experience. But on 03 January, China became the first to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. Although its fourth lunar mission marks a historic first, China’s space agency doesn’t usually target splashy goals.
“This is the first time, really, that they’ve struck out to do something very different and very new,” says Brian Harvey, author of “China in Space: The Great Leap Forward.” “There’s not a mad rush of missions or anything like that. They’re gradually building up a lot of expertise, a lot of knowledge so that they’re in a very strong position” to achieve ambitious goals in the future. China’s lunar programme, Mr. Harvey says, has methodically ticked off the sequence of achievements set out by the U.S. and the USSR during the original space race. Landing on the far side of the Moon was part of the USSR’s plan, too, but the Soviet Union never achieved that, and the U.S. didn’t make it a priority.
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