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China's touch on the Moon

As well as being a milestone in technology, the Chang'e lunar exploration programme establishes China as a contributor to space science. With much still to learn about the Moon, fieldwork beyond Earth's orbit must be an international effort.

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Figure 1: The Chinese Chang'e 3 spacecraft and its rover Yutu on the lunar surface, as imaged by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on 24 December 2013.

© NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Figure 2: Loong Rock.

© CNSA/CE-3/CHINA UNIVERSITY OF GEOSCIENCES-WUHAN

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Correspondence to Long Xiao.

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Xiao, L. China's touch on the Moon. Nature Geosci 7, 391–392 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2175

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