China confirms moonshot

China has announced that its Chang'e 5 mission to visit the Moon and bring back some samples will take place in the second half of 2017.

Chang'e 5 has been slotted for 2017 since at least 2013, but China's never set a firm date.

It's now done so.

Oddly, the Chang'e 4 moonshot and rover mission is scheduled for 2018. China's space program clearly cares not for numbering!

It's not clear on which day or even which month Chang'e 5 will fly. One thing that is certain is that the mission will be subject of enthusiastic reports from state-controlled media. ®