Why is the communication path for the Chinese Chang'e 4 mission on the far side reliant on the relay satellite Queqiao?
Answer
The Earth itself physically blocks any direct radio line of sight.
A critical practical barrier to operating on the far side involves telecommunications. Because the Moon is tidally locked, the physical body of the Moon directly obstructs any straight radio path between a lander or rover on the far side and receiving stations on Earth. To overcome this complete line-of-sight blockage, specialized relay satellites, such as the Queqiao satellite deployed at the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange point, must be used. These relays position themselves such that they can maintain visual contact with both the surface assets on the far side and Earth simultaneously, facilitating data transmission.
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