China successfully lands spacecraft on far side of moon, state media says

China has become the first nation ever to successfully land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. The official China Central Television station announced that the lunar explorer spaceship, Chang'e 4, touched down at 10:26am on Thursday. Professor Zhu Menghua, from Macau University of Science and Technology, said the success of the mission was a major milestone for China and established the nation as a pioneer in space exploration. He told the New York Times: "We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try." Sun Zezhou, chief designer of Chang'e-4, said: "Landing on the far side of the moon is more risky than landing on the near side."

The Chang'e-4 probe started sending photographs back to Earth soon after it landed on the moon's surface. The China National Space Administration said the mission had, "lifted the mysterious veil" from the far side of the moon and "opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration". Sun Zezhou told reporters about the significance of the program. He said it would, "help lay the foundation for future space exploration." He added: "A high-precision landing is a necessity for further exploring the moon and asteroids. We hope to be able to reach the whole moon and even the whole solar system." China also has plans to launch a returnable spacecraft (Chang'e 5) by 2020.

Article Source: https://www.foxnews.com/science/china-successfully-lands-spacecraft-on-far-side-of-moon-state-media-says

 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2180594/change-4-landing-dark-side-moon-marks-start-chinas-space-race-us

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VOCABULARY WORDS:

1. milestone / noun : a significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a person, nation, etc.:

2. exploration / noun : the investigation of unknown regions.

3. significance / noun : importance; consequence:

4. precision / noun : accuracy; exactness:

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What is the name of the spacecraft that landed on the moon?
2. What did a professor say the mission established China as?
3. What did a professor say the Chinese had done?
4. What is riskier than landing on the near side of the moon?
5. When did the spacecraft start sending photos back to Earth?
6. What did China's space administration say had been lifted?
7. What did China's space administration say had been opened?
8. What did a designer say was a necessity for exploring the moon more?
9. What does China want to launch by 2020?