Chinese scientists say China's successful recovery of an unmanned lunar orbiter will lay a solid foundation for the country's future space program.

Niu Hongguang (L), deputy head of the General Armament Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Xu Dazhe (C), head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, and Lei Fanpei (R), chairman of the board of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, attend the handover ceremony of the return capsule of China's unmanned lunar orbiter in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 2, 2014. [Photo: xinhua]

China successfully retrieved the orbiter, which flew around the moon in an 8-day trip, before landing on the grasslands of the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday.

The recovered spacecraft was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It has been sent to Beijing for scientists to conduct further tests in preparation for future lunar probes.

Yang Mengfei is commander-in-chief for the lunar exploration program at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

"We will run some tests on the capsule based on the degree of burns on its surface. Then we will conduct an analysis based on the data using telemetry. From what we have seen, the capsule is in good condition. It has completed the planned mission and fullfilled all the requirements. The orbiter's trip has been very productive. It will lay a solid foundation for our future space program."

Scientists say the spacecraft returned to earth using a Soviet-designed method in which it first bounced off the atmosphere in order to slow its entry speed and avoid burning up.

The mission was aimed at obtaining experimental data and to test technologies used when re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. These discoveries would be usefull when designing China's future moon-lander, Chang'e 5.

China plans to send the spacecraft to the moon in 2017 and have it return to Earth after collecting soil samples.

If successful, that future mission would make China only the third country after the United States and Russia to take on such a challenge.

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