WENCHANG – China’s latest trip to the moon is another milestone in the Asian powerhouse’s slow but steady ascent to the stars.China became the third country to put a person into orbit a generation ago and the first to land on the far side of the moon in 2019.
Future ambitions include a permanent space station and putting people back on the moon more than 50 years after the U.S. did.But even before the latest lunar mission lifted off before dawn Tuesday, a top program official maintained that China isn't competing with anyone. “China will set its development goals in the space industry based on its own considerations of science and engineering technology," Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center at.