China launches historic space flight to the moon

China on Tuesday launched a mission to bring back material from the moon's surface for the first time in more than four. Chang'e 5 -named for the Chinese moon goddess- is the country's most ambitious lunar mission yet.

If successful, it would be a significant advance for China's space program, and some experts say it could lead to further missions to Mars or a crewed lunar mission.

The Chinese government held information close, and previously informed that the launch would be in late November. In 2003 China became the third nation to put a man in space, only after Russia and then the U.S.. In July, China became again one of three countries that have launched a mission to Mars. In this case, the Tianwen 1 is on course to arrive at Mars around February, to search for signs of water on the red planet.