China poised to send spacecraft ‘to moon and back’
Unmanned craft will help prepare for a future mission to collect samples on the earth's nearest neighbour and return them home
China will send a spacecraft close to the moon in the next few days to test technology for use on a more ambitious mission to the earth's nearest neighbour.
The probe, Chang'e 5-T1, is preparing for a project due to take place in three years' time when an unmanned spacecraft will go to the moon, collect samples and then return home.
The latest probe is testing the technology needed for a spacecraft to re-enter through the earth's atmosphere, rather than burn up, and then land safely.
The test probe will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province sometime between tomorrow and Sunday, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, which is overseeing the project.
The key was to precisely slow the craft during re-entry to control where it would land, an unnamed source at the administration told Xinhua.
Professor Wang Jianyu , the deputy secretary general of the Chinese Society of Space Research, said a round trip to the moon would be a first for China but many technological obstacles had to be overcome.