<p>China is preparing to launch an unmanned spacecraft to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.</p>.<p>Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and of eventually sending humans to the moon.</p>.<p>The Chang'e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon's origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.</p>.<p>The mission is set to take off from the Wenchang Space Center in the southern island province of Hainan, according to official Xinhua news agency. No date was provided.</p>.<p>The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure in China's Long March 5 launch rocket.</p>.<p>If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.</p>.<p>The Chinese probe will collect two kilograms (4.5 pounds) of surface material in a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum -- or "Ocean of Storms" -- which consist of a vast lava plain, according to the science journal Nature.</p>.<p>If successfully launched, the probe is expected to land on the moon in late November and collect material during one lunar day -- equivalent to around 14 Earth days.</p>.<p>The samples will be returned to Earth in a capsule programmed to land in Inner Mongolia in early December, according to US space agency NASA.</p>.<p>The mission is technically challenging and involves several innovations not seen during previous attempts at collecting moon rocks, said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.</p>.<p>"The US never did a robotic sample return. The Soviet one was very limited and could only land at certain restricted spots," McDowell told AFP.</p>.<p>"China's system will be the most flexible and capable robotic sample return system yet."</p>.<p>A Chinese lunar rover landed on the far side of the moon in January 2019, in a global first that boosted Beijing's ambitions to become a space superpower.</p>.<p>It was the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu ("Jade Rabbit") rover mission in 2013.</p>.<p>The latest Chang'e-5 probe is among a slew of ambitious targets set by Beijing, which include creating a super-powerful rocket capable of delivering payloads heavier than those NASA and private rocket firm SpaceX can handle, a moon base, a permanently crewed space station, and a Mars rover.</p>
<p>China is preparing to launch an unmanned spacecraft to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.</p>.<p>Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and of eventually sending humans to the moon.</p>.<p>The Chang'e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon's origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.</p>.<p>The mission is set to take off from the Wenchang Space Center in the southern island province of Hainan, according to official Xinhua news agency. No date was provided.</p>.<p>The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure in China's Long March 5 launch rocket.</p>.<p>If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.</p>.<p>The Chinese probe will collect two kilograms (4.5 pounds) of surface material in a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum -- or "Ocean of Storms" -- which consist of a vast lava plain, according to the science journal Nature.</p>.<p>If successfully launched, the probe is expected to land on the moon in late November and collect material during one lunar day -- equivalent to around 14 Earth days.</p>.<p>The samples will be returned to Earth in a capsule programmed to land in Inner Mongolia in early December, according to US space agency NASA.</p>.<p>The mission is technically challenging and involves several innovations not seen during previous attempts at collecting moon rocks, said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.</p>.<p>"The US never did a robotic sample return. The Soviet one was very limited and could only land at certain restricted spots," McDowell told AFP.</p>.<p>"China's system will be the most flexible and capable robotic sample return system yet."</p>.<p>A Chinese lunar rover landed on the far side of the moon in January 2019, in a global first that boosted Beijing's ambitions to become a space superpower.</p>.<p>It was the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu ("Jade Rabbit") rover mission in 2013.</p>.<p>The latest Chang'e-5 probe is among a slew of ambitious targets set by Beijing, which include creating a super-powerful rocket capable of delivering payloads heavier than those NASA and private rocket firm SpaceX can handle, a moon base, a permanently crewed space station, and a Mars rover.</p>