China postpones Chang'e-7 lunar mission

The uncrewed mission was expected to search for frozen water near the Moon’s south pole

A view of Earth, partially hidden by the Moon, photographed through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:40pm EDT (22:40GMT) Apr 6, 2026, just four minutes before the Orion spacecraft and its crew went behind the Moon and lost contact with Earth for 40 minutes before emerging on the other side during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. According to the image file data the picture was taken with a Nikon D5 camera and 80-400mm lens. Picture released Apr 7, 2026.- NASA/Handout via REUTERS