China Plans Its First Unmanned Moon Landing This Year HONG KONG - China plans to land an unmanned exploratory rover on the moon by the end of 2013, a step forward in the country's efforts to master the skills of space travel, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. The launching rocket and other components for the Chang'e-3 lunar probe, named after a goddess in Chinese mythology who flew to the moon, have already been assembled and tested, Xinhua reported, citing a meeting of the Chinese lunar exploration program. "The Chang'e-3 mission will be our country's first soft landing on an extraterrestrial body," said the head of the lunar exploration program, Ma Xingrui, according to Xinhua. The technology is complicated and extremely difficult, with huge risks and great responsibilities. The mission will build on China's two previous Chang'e lunar exploration efforts: a craft launched in 2007 that orbited the moon, and another launched in 2010 that did the same and then embarked on deep-space exploration and tests. Chinese space engineers have also speculated about eventually attempting a manned mission to the moon. China sees establishing a long-term presence in space as an important part of its emergence as a global power. This year, it sent three Chinese astronauts into orbit for a 15-day mission that included exercises in docking, an important skill needed to build and maintain a manned space station. China first sent an astronaut into space in 2003. The latest report did not give a specific date for the Chang'e-3 launching. The United States, which landed astronauts on the moon starting in 1969, plans to launch its latest lunar probe on Sept. The unmanned probe is meant to study lunar dust.