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China's Lunar Orbiter

China has just launched it's first experimental spacecraft that is set to orbit the moon then return to earth.

The mission is a test run for a future unmanned voyage to the lunar surface, which China intends to do in 2017. That mission would be to retrieve lunar samples then return home.

Last year China launched a rover-type craft to the moon, but it has had lots of mechanical problems.

This unmanned spacecraft was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan - in western China.

stephanie.jarvis@ideastream.org | 216-916-6340