Rocket Parts From Chinese Moon Mission Fall On Houses

Debris from the rocket carrying China's first moon rover has fallen to Earth more than a thousand kilometers from the launch site.

The “Xiaoxiang Morning Post” said the incident happened in Suining County in the central province of Hunan early on December 2.

Rocket debris was scattered across 11 villages in an area where some 160,000 people live.

No one was injured, but the roofs of the two houses along with a granary near the city of Suining were destroyed.

The Chang'e 3 rocket blasted off from the Xichang launch center carrying a six-wheeled lunar rover.

The rover is slated to land on the moon's Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, on December 14 and start a 90-day exploration of the moon's surface and subsurface.

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa