China's lunar samples tribute to Chairman Mao

The Chang’e-5 mission is launched to bring back rocks from the surface of the moon WANG LONGHUA/GETTY. Chairman Mao never lived to see a successful Chinese lunar mission but Beijing plans to honour him by sending moon rocks from its latest space venture to his birthplace. The chief designer of the moon mission, which blasted off this week, told a local newspaper that some of its lunar samples would be sent to the southern province of Hunan as a tribute to the founding figure of the communist republic.