China plans to bring back the first Moon rocks for 40 years

IN JANUARY2019 , when a Chinese spacecraft called visited the Moon, the mission broke new ground, figuratively speaking, by landing on the far side of that orb, which is perpetually invisible from Earth and thus also out of direct radio contact. This meant communications had to be relayed by a satellite which had been cunningly located for the purpose at a place where the interaction of the gravitational fields of Earth and Moon meant it could orbit a point in empty space.China’s next lunar mission, by contrast, will break ground literally. , scheduled for launch around November 24th, is intended to drill two metres down into the Moon’s surface, retrieve about 2kg of rock, and then return this to Earth. If successful, it will be the first lunar sample-return mission since 1976, when a Soviet probe called sent back a mere 170g of the stuff. And it will be another step forward in China’s space programme.