China publicly discloses plan for a lunar landing within three years

China plans to land astronauts on the Moon within three years, using a lunar-orbit rendezvous similar to NASA's Apollo program. The crew and lunar lander will launch separately, and the mission will involve a trip to China's space station in low-Earth orbit before heading to the Moon. This plan does not include a mission like Apollo 8 or Artemis II, which involved a crew flying out to the Moon and back. NASA has set a target of landing humans on the Moon by 2028, a year or so ahead of China.