China experimental moon orbiter returns from eight-day lunar trip

China yesterday successfully recovered an experimental spacecraft that flew around the moon and back in a test run for the country's first unmanned return trip to the lunar surface.

The eight-day trip marked the first time in almost four decades that a spacecraft has returned to earth after travelling around the moon.

China plans to send a spacecraft to the moon in 2017 and have it return after collecting soil samples.

If successful, that mission would make burgeoning space power China only the third country after the United States and Russia to meet such a challenge.

China's lunar exploration programme has already launched a pair of orbiting lunar probes and last year landed a craft on the moon with a rover onboard. None of those were designed to return to earth.

China has also hinted at a possible crewed mission to the moon at a future date if officials decide to combine the human spaceflight and lunar exploration programmes.