The Chang'e-3 probe carried the Yutu rover to the lunar surface in 2013. (credit: CNSA)
China plans to become the first nation to land a probe on the far side of the Moon, according to Xinhua News Agency, the country's official press organization.
The mission, possibly as early as 2018, represents the next step in China's plans to explore the Moon with robotic probes and, within the next decade, to return a couple of kilograms of lunar material to Earth. The proposed Chang'e-4 probe follows the successful soft landing of the Chang'e-3 probe on the near side of the Moon in December 2013.
Although the new probe was built as the engineering backup to the Chang'e-3 lander, Chinese officials said the structure could handle a larger payload. China plans to use the probe to study "geological conditions" on the far side of the moon. The Chang'e probes are named after the Chinese goddess of the Moon.
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