China’s lunar lander Chang’e-4 has successfully entered orbit around the moon.
After a voyage of 240,000 miles (385,000km) that lasted 110 hours, the spacecraft fired its retrorockets on 12 December while just 80 miles above the lunar surface. This placed it in a stable elliptical orbit, where it will stay until the landing attempt, which is expected next month.
Chang’e-4 was launched on 7 December atop a Long March-3B rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China’s Sichuan province.
It is the second spacecraft in the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) mission to attempt the first landing on the far side of the moon.
The first spacecraft, a communications relay satellite called Queqiao, launched on 20 May and is now stationed in its operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the moon.
A relay satellite is needed because once the lander is on the far side of the moon, it will not be in sight of Earth.
A date for the landing attempt has not yet been announced but it is likely to take place in early January after mission controllers have tested all systems.
The spacecraft carries experiments and instruments from a number of countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Sweden.
