China aims to make first landing on dark side of moon

State media reports Chinese mission to survey previously unexplored far hemisphere in 2018

China will launch a mission to land on the dark side of the moon in two years' time, state media has reported, in what will be a first for humanity.

The moon's far hemisphere is never directly visible from Earth and while it has been photographed, with the first images appearing in 1959, it has never been explored.