Moon News  
China Inaugurates First Lunar Probe Engineering Center

Illustration of China's lunar orbiter Chang'e 1.

Beijing (XNA) Aug 23, 2005
China launches its lunar probe engineering center Monday in Beijing as Chinese experts have started their work to develop a satellite to probe the moon.

The State Council, China's cabinet, approved on Jan. 23 of last year the country's first lunar probe program, and the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense later on set up the engineering center.

China plans to launch a lunar satellite before 2007, which was designed to obtain three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, analyze the content of useful elements and materials, and probe the depth of the lunar soil and the space environment between the Earth and the moon.

Addressing the launch ceremony, Zhang Yunchuan, minister in charge of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, called on the engineering center to go all-out to complete all the tasks set for the satellite program as scheduled.

The satellite program, which has a budget of 1.4 billion yuan (about 170 million US dollars), is part of the country's three-stage lunar project.

The satellite launch will be followed by the landing of an unmanned vehicle on the moon in 2010 and collecting samples of lunar soil with an unmanned vehicle in 2020.

Sun Laiyan, director of the China National Space Administration, said late last year that China has built two prototype lunar satellites and would begin work on the satellite to be launched to orbit the moon before 2007.

The lunar program is also known as the Chang'e Program referring to a goddess who reached the moon in an ancient Chinese fairy tale.

Last year China became the third country in the world to send a man into space. Chinese space experts said earlier this month that two Chinese astronauts are expected to enter space late next year on a several-day mission.

The commission also set up its evaluation center for military projects and its technological evaluation and supervision center for the safety of special nuclear facilities, which aims to ensure the safety of the country's nuclear facilities for military purpose.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Email This Article

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Russia Plans Moon Exploration
Zhukovsky, Moscow Region (SPX) Aug 19, 2005
Russia's aerospace corporation Energiya, intends to begin producing helium III, an environmentally clean fuel that cannot be produced on Earth, on the Moon, reports RIA Novosti







  • RSC Energia To Demonstrate Clipper At 7th International Aerospace Salon
  • High level Of Activity At The ESTEC Test Centre
  • Russia To Exhibit New Kliper Spaceship
  • Discovery Mission Shows NASA Needs To Move On: Hickam

  • CRISM Joins Mars' Water Detectives
  • Onward And Upward To The Summit Of Husband Hill
  • MER-B Takes The Opportunity To Bite Into A Rock Called Strawberry
  • Opportunity Entering Cobble Field

  • NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter
  • Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission
  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program
  • Boeing-Led Team to Study Nuclear-Powered Space Systems

  • The Story Before The Story Of Extrasolar Planets
  • Dustiest Star Could Harbor A Young Earth
  • Astronomers Debate Whether Oldest Known Dust Disk Will Ever Form Planets
  • A New Class of Planet?

  • GE Global Research Develops "Ideal" Carbon Nanotube Diode
  • Nano Coalition Unveils Environmental, Health And Safety Database
  • New Microprinting Technique Improves Nanoscale Fabrication
  • Researchers Produce Strong, Transparent Carbon Nanotube Sheets

  • Researchers Awarded NIH Grant to Develop Virtual Patient Models
  • MIT Engineers An Anti-Cancer Smart Bomb
  • Genomic Sequences Processed In Minutes, Rather Than Weeks
  • IBM And EPFL Join Forces To Uncover The Secrets Of Cognitive Intelligence

  • US Satellite Successfully Placed In Orbit
  • Largest Communications Satellite Ever Built Launched Into Orbit
  • Sea Launch wins Multiple Launch Award with PanAmSat
  • Land Launch Receives First Order with PanAmSat

  • Thirty Years And Counting
  • Russia Schedules Clipper Spacecraft Launch
  • NASA Successfully Completes Solid Rocket Motor Test
  • Next-Generation Space Vehicle Tested in Pacific Ocean Drop

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement