China hunts for lunar ice in one of solar system's coldest places

This undated handout photo taken by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and released on Jun 4, 2024, shows a general view of craters on the surface of the moon captured by China's Chang’e-6 lunar probe. (Photo: Handout/China National Space Administration/AFP) 21 Aug 2026 09:35AM BEIJING: China is poised to launch Chang'e-7, its most technologically complex lunar mission to date, in its search for frozen stores of water in permanently shadowed craters near the moon's south pole.The uncrewed mission, named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, will feature the deployment of a robotic lander, rover, and "hopping" probe to one of the coldest places in the solar system. It will represent a major step towards Beijing's long-term goal of building a permanent human presence on t