China is creating a ‘magpie bridge’ to the far side of the moon

Digital Trends ------- China’s newly invigorated space program has some ambitious goals, and one of them is something that’s never been done before — landing a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. The Queqiao relay satellite, launched Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China, will provide a vital link back to Earth. Although it’s sometimes called the “dark side” of the moon, it’s not actually dark. The moon circles the Earth and gets illuminated by the sun in a tidal lock orbit, meaning the orbital period matches its rotational period. In other words, the same side is always facing us, and that’s where nearly all lunar missions have landed. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.