China just landed on the far side of the moon. Could it become the first nation to have its own moon base?
BEIJING, China - China's Chang'e-4 lunar lander touched down on the far side of the moon Thursday morning Beijing time, the latest milestone marking the nation's determination to become a global leader in space exploration.
Chinese scientists have already declared China's ambitions to establish a manned moon base and to send nuclear-powered rockets into space in future decades to colonize and exploit space.
No nation has ever landed a lunar lander on the far side of the moon, a mission complicated by the fact that the moon blocks direct communications with Earth. China used a relay satellite, Queqiao, to send transmissions to scientists.
Chang'e-4, carrying a 300-pound lunar rover with probes and spectrometers, touched down in the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin,
