The Space race between US and China has started in the right earnest; China which has already landed a rover on the moon now wants to venture into unchartered territories and wants to attempt something which has never been attempted by any nation. China wants to land a Rover in the dark side of the moon.
The far side of the Moon or the Dark side of the Moon is the portion which is not visible for an onlooker on earth. The Dark side of the Moon has been steeped in myths but much of it was broken when the erstwhile Soviet Union photographed the region with its lunar orbiters.
The region has often been a subject of many conspiracy theories with allegations that there is an Alien base away from the prying eyes. UFO buffs believe that the presence of Aliens had led to the abrupt termination of the Apollo Program. Controversies apart, no one has attempted to land a rover there and China will become the first nation to attempt it.
China earlier planned to reach Mars but has not succeeded and now after arch-rival India having successfully placed an orbiter around the Red Planet, is fast-tracking its space projects to catch up and remain the leader.
China wants to master key technologies like orbiting, landing and roving exploration at one go. All this will be possible with its Mars mission. The nation is also planning many big missions like bringing back samples from the Mars, mineral exploration on asteroids, exploration of the outer planets of the Solar System which includes Jupiter as well as fly-by exploration.
China has also increased the pace of deployment of satellites which will form part of a 35 satellite BeiDou network which will then rub shoulders with the American GPS system. China is also planning to have its own permanent space station by 2022.
