China sending robotic mission to the Moon

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China plans to launch a robotic mission to return samples from the lunar surface, the first such mission in four decades, in November on top of the country’s new heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, according to state media reports.

The government-run Xinhua news agency said the mission, which has been scheduled for launch in 2017 for some time, is on track for liftoff from the Wenchang space center on Hainan Island in November, citing sources at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Chang’e 5 mission will attempt to retrieve the first lunar surface samples for return to Earth since the Soviet Union’s robotic Luna 24 mission in August 1976.

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Not major but China is definitely becoming more active in space exploration. I think this is awesome (more space exploration the better) but the US obviously has more competition now in regards to space. It used to basically be the US, USSR, and European countries to a less extent. I'm all for more money for NASA's budget to maintain our lead.