As China's robotic rover prepares to descend onto the surface of the moon in the first lunar landing since the 1970s, Tom Phillips explains the significance of the Chang'e-3 mission.
China's first lunar rover mission got under way last Sunday in a major milestone for its space programme.
Known as the Chang'e-3 mission, the rocket is carrying a robotic rover called Yutu (Jade Rabbit) which will carry out scientific experiments on the surface of the moon and look for natural resources.
It was given the name Jade Rabbit because that is how Chinese describe the shape they can see on the moon's surface.
If all goes well, the rover will touch down on Saturday, and China will be only the third country to soft-land on the moon.
So far, only the US and the former Soviet Union have done so.
The Telegraph's Shanghai correspondent Tom Phillips says the mission is particularly symbolic as it aims to show that China is serious about space exploration and is an opportunity to demonstrate to world its technical prowess.
The mission may also have international repercussions with scientists seeing it as a way "to kick the US space programme up the backside" and giving them a reason to re-engage with space flight.
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