Chang'e 4 probe aligns for imminent moon landing

China's Chang'e 4 probe entered a planned orbit on Sunday morning to prepare for the first soft landing on the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration announced.

The probe entered an elliptical lunar orbit, ranging from 15 kilometers above the lunar surface to about 100 km, at 8:55 am, the administration said.

Since the Chang'e 4 entered lunar orbit on Dec 12, the ground control center in Beijing has trimmed the probe's orbit twice and tested the communication link between the probe and the relay satellite Queqiao (or Magpie Bridge), which is operating in a halo orbit around the second Lagrangian (L2) point - a point of equilibrium - of the Earthmoon system.