

Harbin Institute of TechnologyOne of the Longjiang microsatellites that China launched toward the moon in May 2018.


One of those images shows our blue-marble planet hanging in the void of space beyond the moon.


China saudi longjiang 2 microsatellite image moon earth riseCNSA/KACST (via CCTV News)An image of Earth and the moon taken on May 28, 2018, from China’s Longjiang-2 microsatellite using a Saudi Arabian camera system.




The microsatellites were supposed to orbit and study the moon in tandem, but Longjiang-1 suffered a failure and is presumably lost in space on a distant orbit of Earth.


The first rover to explore far side of the moon

Queqiao lunar relay communications satellite cnsa casCNSA/CASAn illustration of China’s Queqiao relay satellite near the moon.




Queqiao’s name is fitting, since it will soon become a “bridge” for the CNSA’s upcoming Chang’e-4 mission. That project aims to send a lander and lunar rover to the far side of the moon. The relay satellite is necessary because the moon blocks all radio signals from Earth; without it, Chang’e-4 wouldn’t be able to receive commands from mission control or send data home.


Jade rabbit change3 lunar moon rover china cnsa casChina National Space Administration/Chinese Academy of SciencesThe Yutu or ‘Jade Rabbit’ rover, part of China’s Chang’e-3 mission, moving around the lunar surface.

The Chang’e-4 lander and rover, plus an orbiting support spacecraft, are scheduled to launch in December 2018. The landing site is slated to be the moon’s Von Kármán crater, which is near its south pole (a region that hides water ice in permanently shadowed craters).



“The eggs will hatch into silkworms, which can produce carbon dioxide, while the potatoes and seeds emit oxygen through photosynthesis,” Yuanxun said. “Together, they can establish a simple ecosystem on the moon.”

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