Later this year, China will have launched a unmanned ship to the moon for the first time ever!
The Chang’e-3 will be launching from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China later this year and will not only be the first time China has a soft-landing on the moon, but also the first time a soft-landing has been done since America’s Apollo missions from the ’60s and ’70s!
The mission will see Chang’e-3 orbiting and landing on the moon before returning to Earth. It is the second part of China’s lunar mission; the first part included making up a hi-res map of the entire moon.
Since Obama recently decided against NASA’s plans to return to the moon, China now has the opportunity to be the second nation to land a man on the moon by 2020!