Small robots the size of riding mowers could prepare a safe landing site for NASA’s Moon outpost, according to a NASA-sponsored study prepared by Astrobotic Technology Inc. with technical assistance from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.

The cool, rocky slopes of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is Hawaii's highest mountain, will serve as a stand-in for the moon as researchers from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, NASA and other organizations test a robot designed for lunar prospecting.

China is to launch its first lunar probe on Wednesday, just weeks after its rival, Japan , sent satellite into moon orbit. The wider window has been set for between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26, but the best time is about 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Li Guoping, a spokesman for the China National Space Administration, said Monday.

Samples of lunar rocks returned by Apollo astronauts show large variations in titanium oxide abundance, indicating complex compositional zonation within the lunar mantle.

Scientists in Shanghai are developing an atomic-powered lunar rover for the country's first unmanned mission to the moon in 2012, newspapers reported Monday. The as-yet unnamed six-wheeled lunar vehicle has been under development for four years at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute, where a specialized testing laboratory has been outfitted to replicate the lunar surface, the Shanghai Daily reported.