China says it will launch 2 robots to the far side of the moon in December on an unprecedented lunar exploration mission

Chinese National Space Administration/Xinhuanet

• China said on Wednesday that it plans to launch two robots to the moon in December.
• The new mission, called Chang'e-4, aims to set a lunar rover and lander on the far side of the moon.
• The robots will study the geology and chemistry of the moon's most ancient and mysterious rocks.
• Another goal of the mission is to see whether the region is quiet enough (from human activity) to build a sensitive deep-space radio telescope.
• A bonus experiment on Chang'e-4 will try to grow plants and worms on the moon.

China's space agency this week shared new details about its upcoming Chang'e-4 mission, which aims to launch two robots to the far side of the moon.

The new mission, named after the mythical moon goddess Chang'e, is the fourth in an ongoing lunar exploration program. China ultimately hopes its technological progress will lead to a crewed lunar landing — the first since NASA's Apollo program ended in 1972 — and perhaps domination of space around the moon.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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