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Could China be the first to land on the far side of the moon?

China's space program plans a mission to land a probe on the side of the moon that never faces Earth. Radio signals from Earth cannot reach the moon's far side.

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China Daily/Reuters
The Long March-3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province in 2013. The Chang'e 3 landed a rover on the moon. The planned mission for the Chang'e 4 will land a probe on the far side of the moon, where radio signals from Earth cannot reach.
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Neil A. Armstrong/NASA/AP/File
In this July 20, 1969 file photo, astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. stands next to a U.S. flag planted on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first men to walk on the lunar surface.
  • By Associated Press

| Beijing

China's聽increasingly ambitious space program plans to attempt the first-ever landing of a lunar probe on the聽moon's聽far side, a leading engineer said.

The Chang'e 4 mission is planned for sometime before 2020, Zou Yongliao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences'聽moon聽exploration department told state broadcaster CCTV in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

Zou said the mission's objective would be to study geological conditions on the聽moon's聽far side, also known as the dark side.

That could eventually lead to the placement of a radio telescope for use by astronomers, something that would help "fill a void" in man's knowledge of the universe, Zou said.

Radio transmissions from Earth are unable to reach the聽moon's聽far side, making it an excellent location for sensitive instruments.

China's聽next lunar mission is scheduled for 2017, when it will attempt to land an unmanned spaceship on the聽moon聽before returning to Earth with samples. If successful, that would makeChina聽only the third country after the United States and Russia to have carried out such a maneuver.

China's聽lunar exploration program, named Chang'e after a mythical goddess, has already launched a pair of orbiting lunar probes, and in 2013 landed a craft on the聽moon聽with a rover onboard.

China聽has also hinted at a possible crewed mission to the聽moon.

China聽sent its first astronaut into space in 2003 and has powered ahead with a series of methodically timed steps, including the deploying of an experimental space station.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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