China's groundbreaking lunar rover found nearly 40 feet of dust on the far side of the moon

• China landed a spacecraft called Chang'e 4 on the moon's far side in January 2019 — the first country ever to do so.
• The rover has measured a layer of lunar dust, or regolith, that's "quite thick": It extends 12 meters (39 feet) deep.
• The moon's dust caused problems for the Apollo missions, and understanding it better could help future spacecraft.
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The first rover ever to visit the far side of the moon has discovered a layer of lunar dust up to 12 meters (39 feet) deep.

The rover and its lander, which sits in the moon's Von Kármán crater, are part of China's Chang'e-4 mission. Their landing there on January 3, 2019 marked the first time any spacecraft had ever visited the far side of the moon without crashing.

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