The lander itself has various cameras, a spectrometer, and a neutron dosimeter in order to gather scientific data. It has also deployed a mobile rover weighing more than 300 pounds that carries its own electro-optical systems, spectrometer, energetic neutral atom analyzer, and ground-penetrating radar.

“China is on the road to become [sic] a strong space nation,” Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Chang’e 4, told state-run CCTV after the landing. “And this marks one of the milestone events of building a strong space nation.”

The lander, known as Chang’e 4 , touched down in the Von Kármán crater at around 9:30 PM EST on Jan. 2, 2019. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) had launched the craft on top of a Long March-3B/G3Z space launch rocket on Dec. 7, 2018. It then entered orbit around the Moon on Dec. 12, 2018.

China’s has become the first country ever to land a spacecraft on the far side, or “dark side,” of the Moon, a major achievement for its civilian space program. The mission offers numerous scientific research opportunities, but there is also a possibility that it could be another stepping stone to improving and expanding Chinese military capabilities in space .

The Chang’e 4’s primary mission is to study geophysics and radiation characteristics of the far side of the Moon, as well as peer out into deep space. Due to a situation called “tidal locking,” the dark side never faces the Earth, giving it unique characteristics. “Since the far side of the moon is shielded from electromagnetic interference from the Earth, it's an ideal place to research the space environment and solar bursts,” Tongjie Liu, the deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center at the China National Space Administration, explained, according to CNN. “The probe can 'listen' to the deeper reaches of the cosmos.” While the information the lander and its rover are set to gather could be of high scientific value, just getting the spacecraft to the far side of the moon was an achievement in of itself. Since there is no direct line-of-sight to Earth, the Chinese can only communicate with Chang’e 4 via a dedicated communications relay satellite, known as Queqiao. The team at CNSA overseeing the mission spent much of the time between when the spacecraft arrived in orbit around the Moon on Dec. 12 and when it finally set down on the lunar surface four weeks later ensuring that these data links worked as intended. Chang’e 4’s landing itself was entirely autonomous.

CNSA/CLEP An image of the Von Kármán crater as seen from the Chang'e 4 during its descent to the Moon's surface.

The potential risks and associated costs have long stood in the way of a mission to the dark side of the Moon. U.S. astronaut Harrison Schmitt had proposed that the Apollo 17 mission, the United States’ last manned lunar mission, head to the far side using a satellite relay arrangement. NASA rejected the idea. Chang’e 4 is also the latest in the Chang’e series, all of which have been stepping stones toward China’s plans for a manned lunar mission and the potential construction of a semi-permeant outpost on the Moon as part of the overarching Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). The present mission’s scientific research will support studies into the practicality of sending actual humans to the dark side of the moon and potentially leaving them there for protracted periods of time. In addition to its various sensors and data collection systems, the lander also has a self-contained “biosphere” with various seeds and silkworm eggs. Chinese scientists are interested to know whether the plants and insects can create a sustaining, symbiotic relationship inside the artificial habitat. The future Chang’e 5 and 6 missions’ goals are to conduct round trips to the Moon where the semi-autonomous craft comes back to earth. This will set the stage for the actual manned operation, set to occur sometime in the 2030s. The European Space Agency (ESA) has indicated it might be interested in working together with China on the CLEP program.

Fastily The Chang'e 4 mission includes silkworm eggs, with the hope that the larvae, such as the ones seen here, will be able to hatch and thrive.