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CHINA is launching an uncrewed spacecraft on a quick jaunt around the moon, in a test of technology designed to return rocks from the lunar surface.
China鈥檚 most recent lunar mission, Chang鈥檈 3, placed a lander and rover on the moon last year. The new mission, called Chang鈥檈 5-T1, is set to blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan on 23 October.
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If all goes to plan, it will fly around the moon and return to Earth about eight days later. It will test China鈥檚 heat-shield technology, which is essential for surviving a high-speed re-entry into Earth鈥檚 atmosphere, and carry experiments to test what happens to bacteria and plants exposed to radiation beyond low Earth orbit.
The flight is a precursor to a mission planned for 2017, which is intended to bring lunar soil and rock back to Earth.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐hina鈥檚 moon trip鈥�