Chang'e-4 landing site named "Statio Tianhe"

Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China and commander-in-chief of the ground application system of Chang'e-4, is seen at a joint press conference held in Beijing on Feb. 15, 2019. The landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon last month. Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), Liu Jizhong, director of the China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at a joint press conference held in Beijing Friday. "Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Three craters were given the names Zhinyu, Hegu and Tianjin, three constellations of the twenty-eight mansions in traditional Chinese astrology. The hill used to locate the three craters is named Mons Tai after Mount Tai, a Chinese mountain of historical and cultural significance. The press conference was jointly held by the CNSA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the IAU. According to the CNSA, the Chang'e-4 lunar probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)