China promises the moon

Last July, when a Chinese Long March 5 rocket lifted off from the country’s newest spaceport, the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the island of Hainan, the vehicle's official mission was to place an experimental communications satellite into orbit. The launch, though, had a secondary purpose: It was to be a final test before the Long March 5, China's newest and largest rocket, was entrusted with the country's most ambitious science mission ever.