China aims for the Moon

摘要

Next month, a Chinese spacecraft called Chang'e-3 is scheduled to use braking rockets to lower itself gently onto the plains of Sinus Iridum, a broad swathe of lava flows on the near side of the Moon. The probe will then roll out a six-wheeled rover ― the first machinery to explore the Moon's surface since 1976， when the Soviet Luna 24 mission scooped up a handful of soil and flew it back to Earth.