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newscientist 00053.txt

#China set to launch probe on round trip to the moon China is planning to launch an uncrewed spacecraft on a quick jaunt around the moon in a test of technology designed to return rocks from the lunar surface to Earth. The Chang'e 5-T1 mission is set to blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan China on 23 october. It will fly around the back of the moon and return to Earth using a parachute to slow its decent through the atmosphere about 8 days later. It's a precursor to a more advanced mission planned for 2017. This future mission will send a lunar orbiter that will release a lander to touch down on the moon's surface and collect 2 kilograms of soil and rock. The lander will then blast off and dock with the orbiter for the return trip to Earth. China's most recent moon mission Chang'e 3 placed a lander and rover on the moon last year. Chang'e 5-T1 will test China's heat-shield technology which is essential for surviving a high-speed re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. The country is following a path blazed by other major spacefaring nations: the US sent humans to retrieve rocks during the Apollo moon landing missions and the Soviet union performed automated sample-return missions in the 1970s. The spacecraft will also carry experiments to test what happens to bacteria and plants exposed to radiation beyond low Earth orbit. China has partnered also with a Luxembourg-based firm called Luxspace to send a tiny spacecraft called the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission around the moon. It will ride on the same rocket as Chang'e 5-T1 and broadcast a ham radio signal for amateurs to tune in to o

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