Amateur radio tracking of China’s Chang’e 4 lander suggest it will attempt to land in Von Karman crater (on the far side of the moon) within the next 24 hours.

Amateur radio tracking of China’s Chang’e 4 lander suggest it will attempt to land in Von Karman crater (on the far side of the moon) within the next 24 hours.

Amateur observations of the radio signal from #ChangE4 support a landing window at the Van Karman crater complex Jan 3, 00:30-01:00 UTC. CE4 has been busy in constant ground lock during observations made from EU from @DF2MZ

Amateur observations of the radio signal from #ChangE4 support a landing window at the Van Karman crater complex Jan 3, 00:30-01:00 UTC. CE4 has been busy in constant ground lock during observations made from EU from @DF2MZ https://t.co/9XxyZghAMd pic.twitter.com/RLuuWvq6Dq

— Scott Tilley 🇺🇦 (@coastal8049) January 2, 2019

China has been pretty tight lipped about the progress of the mission, but amateurs like Scott Tilley have been tracking its radio signal as it lowers its orbit around the moon.

https://gbtimes.com/change-4-lowers-orbit-ready-for-first-ever-landing-on-far-side-of-the-moon

Chang'e-4 is a landing mission that is much more challenging than the 2013 Chang'e-3 near side mission in a number of ways. This landing will help with China's further lunar exploration plans (south pole landings, sample returns) https://t.co/gd3K4bZIf2

— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) January 2, 2019