A Chinese spacecraft launched in October has settled into a circular orbit around the moon for rendezvous simulations and reconnaissance ahead of a planned lunar sample return mission, according to state media reports.
The test mission launched Oct. 23 from the Xichang space center in southwestern China, traveled 840,000 kilometers — about 520,000 miles — around the far side of the moon, and deployed a compact landing capsule for a high-speed re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere eight days after liftoff.