The Day China Landed on the Moon

In other news today, China has successfully landed a robotic rover on the moon, the first lunar landing in 37 years, and a major step in China's space roadmap:

“After this, a mission to bring samples of lunar soil back to Earth is planned for 2017. And this may set the stage for further robotic missions, and - perhaps - a crewed lunar mission in the 2020s."
-- BBC

Despite being a fairly significant event, this wasn't widely covered in the news (shocker).

Certainly, this is a major feather in China's cap, and can only boost China's economic and geo-political profile here on Earth.

From a technological perspective, there are major benefits to entering the space-race later. For one thing, robotic technology means vastly reduced costs and safety risks. It also means that remote mining or construction projects on the moon are far more feasible.

Just imagine the race that will be kicked off if China establishes a mining operation on the moon in 4-5 years, perhaps for Helium 3.

Or maybe the Germans already got there first? :)

Related: Society.