A Place to Stand

       The Chinese automated Moon Lander was last item on ITV and has been generally described as "40 years late" by our media. 40 years after Apollo perhaps but NASA couldn't do it now.

        It does seem likely that it will be of more pure scientific use than the Apollo landings because the lander has ground penetrating radar and since it will work for several months, will cover a much greater area.
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From Wikipedia

The Yutu rover is slightly smaller than the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and carries similar instruments: panoramic cameras and two spectrometers, one operating in the infrared, the other using alpha particles and X-rays (APXS).^[8][14] Yutu is equipped with a robotic arm to position the APXS near the target sample.
The rover has a mass of approximately 120 kilograms (260 lb) and a payload capacity of approximately 20 kg (44 lb).^[1][2][15] It may transmit video in real time and has automatic sensors to prevent it from colliding with other objects.

Power[edit]

The six-wheeled rover is designed to explore an area of 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) during its 3-month mission, with a maximum travelling distance of 10 km (6.2 mi). Energy would be provided by a solar panel, allowing the rover to operate through lunar days. During the lunar nights, the lander and the rover will go into 'sleep mode'.^[12] Heating will be provided by use of radioisotope heater units (RHU) and two-phase fluid loops.^[16]

Scientific payload[edit]

The Yutu rover carries a ground-penetrating radar and spectrometers to inspect the composition of the soil and the structure of the lunar crust beneath it.

Ground-penetrating radar[edit]

The rover carries a ground-penetrating radar on its underside, allowing for the first direct measurement of the structure and depth of the lunar soil down to a depth of 30 m (98 ft), and investigation of the lunar crust structure down to several hundred meters deep.^[13]

Spectrometers[edit]

The rover carries an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer^[14] and an Infrared spectrometer to analyze the chemical element composition of lunar samples.

Cameras[edit]

There are two panoramic cameras and two navigation cameras on the rover's mast, which stands ~1.5 m (4.9 ft) above the lunar surface, as well as two hazard avoidance cameras installed on the lower front portion of the rover. Each camera pair may be used to capture either stereoscopic three-dimensional imaging or range-sensor two-dimensional imaging.
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      It cannot return rocks to Earth but that is promised for future voyages.

     Remarkably China's space budget is low  US$500 million (official); US$1.3 billion (Euroconsult)^.

     That is £320 million or £800 million. By comparison Britain's space budget is £330 million, almost all simply handed over to ESA, whose budget in turn is about half of the $20,000 million NASA spends.

     This makes China's space efforts remarkably small and remarkably successful or NASA and ESA remarkably useless which is probably more likely. That is 60p per person annually. Clearly they are not so much racing for space as engaged in a gentle stroll while the west slides slowly backwards.

      It reinforces my and UKIP's belief that if even only our current space budget was put into an X-Prize Foundation, we might well quickly become the world leader in commercial space development. If we also added the £500 million NERC spends, largely on advertising the warming scare, we would be a racing certainty.