The landing of a Chinese spacecraft on the dark side of the moon throws a great deal of light upon the advanced state of Chinese technology.

Even the America’s NASA described this first landing on the far side of the moon as an “impressive achievement”. The challenge has always been that there can be no direct communications between a space vehicle and the earth. The Chinese have overcome the problem by using a specially-launched satellite to relay signals between their mission control and the craft.

The unmanned Chang’e-4 module made a perfect landing in the scientifically intriguing Von Kármán crater in a region thought to have been hit by a huge meteorite early in the moon’s history. The impact may have driven the object deep into the moon, throwing up part of its inner core. The Chinese are therefore hoping their examination of rock samples on the surface may lead to a major breakthrough in understanding the moon and its formation.

The Chang’e-4 mission has a range of other tasks, one of which is to see if the far side of the moon, shielded as it is from the radio noise from the earth, really will be an outstanding location for a radio astronomy base. The concept is known to have triggered research and proof-of-concept designs in the US and Europe and now it is clear, also in China.

Compared with NASA with its extensive publicity machine and widely available information on its future as well as all its past missions, Beijing tends to keep its cards close to its chest, no doubt because the space program is run by the People’s Liberation Army. Mission launches have not been announced until they have gone off without a hitch.

As a Chinese scientist explained two years ago, though research has dominated the space program, the emphasis was always on successful research. Lack of success would mean for China a loss of face. Purists might point out that the scientific method relies on failures every much as successes to advance the store of knowledge. And doubtless the Chinese have their failures, which they conceal from public gaze.

One way to boost the chances of success is to spend whatever it takes to get projects as right as possible. Beijing has not been afraid of investing vast sums in its space program. It has built the world’s largest radio telescope. The FAST telescope constructed in a natural hollow in the southwest of the country is 500 meters across and dwarfs its nearest rival in Puerto Rico.

Though its first satellite was launched in 1970 — called Dongfanghong 1 “The East is Red” it circled the earth playing a song praising the achievements of Chairman Mao — China has come relatively late to serous space exploration. It has so far put only nine “taikonauts” into space. But in two years time it plans to launch its own space station. Besides its lunar exploration, at least two more unmanned missions are planned, Beijing is also looking at Mars expeditions.

However, unlike the Russians and the Americans who, whatever their differences back on earth, work together closely with the International Space Station, the Chinese currently seem to have no interest in extensive cooperation with anyone else. But space is surely too big a challenge, even for the world’s most populous nation.