we love space news here on the context. and tonight, it s the next step in china s ambitious space programme. the country s space agency has launched a rocket that it s hoping will make history. this is the moment the chang e 6 mission blasted off from the wenchang space launch centre in southern hainan province. on board is a probe that will aim for the first time to collect samples from the far side of the moon. the spacecraft will attempt to make a soft landing on the south pole aitken basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system. it then hopes to return the samples successfully to earth. the journey is expected to take 53 days to complete. i m pleased to say former nasa astronaut, who was once the commander of the international space station, leroy chiao joins us now. leroy, always a delight to talk to you. i love talking to you about space, and give me your sense of how significant this is not only that china has launched this probe that it s be