EARTH — The space race continues. Iran claims to have successfully sent its second monkey into space. “In total, this is the 2nd monkey sent into space and returned in perfect health to Iran. I congratulate the Leader, scientists and the nation,” said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
At the same time, China became the third country to land a rocket on the moon. “It’s still a significant technological challenge to land on another world,” said Peter Bond, consultant. “Especially somewhere like the moon, which doesn’t have an atmosphere so you can’t use parachutes or anything like that. You have to use rocket motors for the descent and you have to make sure you go down at the right angle and the right rate of descent and you don’t end up in a crater on top of a large rock.”