China’s About to Attempt the Most Ambitious Moon Mission Ever

Anna and Avery cover China's Chang'e-7 mission — a four-vehicle lunar south pole expedition, including a leaping hopper robot, that a Brown University scientist calls the most ambitious robotic Moon mission any nation has ever attempted, with its launch window opening Monday. Then: this week's biggest hardware stories, catching up on Starship's Ship 40 (still marooned off Christmas Island), LandSpace's historic private rocket landing in China, NASA pinpointing exactly where a Falcon 9 hit the Moon, and the failed rescue mission for NASA's Swift telescope. Full show notes: Today's episode — S05E174, Saturday August 22, 2026, our second "Weekend Wrap": Main story: China's Chang'e-7 targets the most ambitious lunar mission ever. China's Long March 5 Y14 rocket rolled out to the pad at Wenchang Space Launch Site on August 19, ahead of a launch window running August 24–31. Chang'e-7 comprises four vehicles — an orbiter, a lander built for up to eight years of surface operations, a rover, and a six-legged, thruster-powered hopper capable of 15km leaps — targeting the rim of Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole, with landing expected near year's end. The mission's primary goal is the first landed, direct search for water ice in the Moon's permanently shadowed craters. Brown University planetary scientist James Head called it "the most ambitious, comprehensive, and complex robotic lunar mission ever attempted by any nation or entity." The mission carries international instruments from Russia, Italy, Thailand, Switzerland, Bahrain, Egypt, and a University of Hong Kong/International Lunar Observatory Association telescope. It precedes Chang'e-8 (~2028) and China's targeted crewed lunar landing by 2030. The week in review: - Starship's Ship 40: After Tuesday's episode reported recovery as complete, fuller reporting showed the ship was towed further than first known, arriving August 18 off Christmas Island (not a mainland port) after 24 days adrift and 400+ km of drift. SpaceX has no announced plan yet for the final leg to Starbase, Texas — at its current tow pace that trip would take over a year. Separately, Elon Musk said August 20 that a Starship tower-catch attempt is now "probably... in a few months" rather than on Flight 14 as earlier hoped; Flight 14 is targeted no earlier than August 28 and will attempt Starship's first-ever full orbital flight. - LandSpace / Zhuque-3: On August 19, Chinese commercial company LandSpace became the first private Chinese company to land an orbital-class rocket booster, recovering Zhuque-3's first stage in Gansu Province on the rocket's second flight (the first, in December 2025, reached orbit but failed its landing attempt). - SpaceX Moon impact site: NASA and South Korea's Danuri orbiter pinpointed and imaged the crater left by a spent Falcon 9 upper stage that struck the Moon on August 5 — a 60-foot-wide, sub-10-foot-deep crater at 19.4759°N, 266.7138°E, with ejecta rays revealing space-weathering data. - Swift telescope rescue fails: NASA confirmed on August 19 that the LINK rescue spacecraft's attitude-control failure (two of three reaction wheels down, plus a thruster malfunction) ended the rescue attempt for the aging Swift Observatory, which will now reenter uncontrolled later this year — not expected before October per early reporting, though NASA hasn't confirmed a date. Links & sources: - Space.com — China's Chang'e 7 moon probe will launch this weekend on the most ambitious lunar mission in history (https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/chinas-change-7-moon-probe-will-launch-this-weekend-on-the-most-ambitious-lunar-mission-in-history) - Scientific American — China is about to launch its most ambitious moon mission yet (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chinas-change-7-moonshot-will-seek-water-ice-at-the-lunar-south-pole/) - Al Jazeera — China's new moon mission could unlock secret of lunar ice: Why that matters (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/22/chinas-new-moon-mission-could-unlock-secret-of-lunar-ice-why-that-matters) - China in Space — Chang'e 7 Rolls Out Ahead of Moon Launch From Wenchang (https://www.china-in-space.com/p/change-7-rolls-out-ahead-of-moon) - NASASpaceFlight.com — Ship 40 arrives at Christmas Island, plans return to Starbase (https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/08/ship-40-christmas-island-plans-return-starbase/) - Starlust — SpaceX finally hauls Starship's Ship 40 to Christmas Island after 24 days lost at sea (https://starlust.org/space-x-finally-hauls-starships-ship-40-to-christmas-island-after-24-days-lost-at-sea/) - Space.com — SpaceX will try for 1st Starship tower catch 'in a few months,' Elon Musk says (https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-will-try-for-1st-starship-tower-catch-in-a-few-months-elon-musk-says) - Spaceflight Now — LandSpace becomes first commercial Chinese company to land an orbital-class booster...