Chinese Moon Probe

By Abel Bellows 

When you see the moon, you might think of NASA Apollo missions or cheese but do you think of robots?

This might change soon. China landed a rover on the moon that sent samples back to earth. This might sound like something out of a scifi novel but it is the current reality. 

The rover targeted a location on the previously unexplored far side of the moon. Looking for volcanic activity. It is a many part craft that sent a rocket off the moon into lunar orbit to meet up with the orbiter. The orbiter then sent the sample back to the earth. It landed in the mongolian desert. This is the first time samples have been retrieved from the moon with robots. 

This is a major step for space exploration as the technology used has the potential to be used on other planets such as mars. A sample of martian dirt would be invaluable to scientists because of the types of analysis that could be done on it. After all you can only fit so many instruments into a martian rover.

This also is evidence that China's space program is progressing. This means that china may become a major player in the world of space exploration! 

For now the probe has just brought back lunar samples but maybe it will lead us into the next space race.