China claims to have landed spacecraft on unexplored side of Moon

China on Thursday claimed that one of its spacecraft made a successful landing on the far side of the Moon - a side that has never been explored by mankind before.

According to South China Morning Post, Chang'e 4 lunar spacecraft - launched on December 8 - made a landing at 1026hrs Hong Kong time (0756hrs IST). It carries a number of high-end equipment which have been designed and manufactured to study and record the geology of Moon's far side that has so far not been explored. It also has equipment to carry out biological experiments here.

The report goes on to quote China National Space Administration as saying that the major part of operation objectives of  Chang'e 4 would be studying the terrain, astronomical observation, assessing the mineral composition and taking stock of neutron radiation and neutral atoms in an effort to understand the environment of this part of the Moon. CNSA goes on to say that the spacecraft will also grow vegetables and flowers inside an airtight container.

The country is hailing the possibilities that the landing of  Chang'e 4 opens up because this is the first time such a mission has reached the far side of the Moon. Before this, missions focused on the near side because maintaining direct radio communications here is believed to be easier.