China took its place in the history of space conquest having sent the Chang’e-4 exploration module to the hidden side of the moon in January 2019. As programmed for this mission, the small probe has continued to advance slowly over our satellite’s chaotic surface while regularly sending images and soil samples back to Earth.
Researchers at the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) were particularly interested in one of the many photos received. Despite the poor quality due to the absence of light on the hidden side of the Moon, there could be no mistake as to the characters written on the dusty surface in the modern English language alphabet.
The surprise of space scientists can be easily imagined when the inscription on the computer-enhanced photo was found to read “Chinese Go Home”.
Is this some American astronaut joke or could it be alien annoyance at Chinese domination? There can be no doubt that the hidden side of the Moon still has a few surprises in store for us.