China puts off Chang’e-7 mission to lunar south pole

China’s historic Chang’e-7 mission to drill for ice near the moon’s south pole has been delayed, the country’s human space flight programme authority said on Sunday. The Chang’e-7 – carrying an orbiter, a lander, a rover and a hopper – was expected to lift off aboard a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang spaceport in southern China’s Hainan province as early as Monday. The China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday evening that the mission would be postponed following a comprehensive assessment...