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China Launches 1st Phase Of Effort To Explore Moon

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The Associated Press

Published: October 25, 2007

BEIJING - Embarking on an ambitious 10-year moon exploration program, China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday - a leap forward in the Asian space race that gave a boost to national pride, and the promise of scientific payoffs.

Just a week ago, Japan put a probe into orbit around the moon, and India is likely to join the rivalry soon, with plans to send its own lunar probe into space in April.

The Long March 3A rocket soared into cloudy skies from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Twenty-four minutes later, the Chang'e 1 satellite - named after a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon - separated from the rocket on a trajectory to reach lunar orbit in 13 days.

'The launch of China's first moon probe satellite is successful!' Xu Fuxiang, a professor from the China Institute of Space Technology, declared on state television, which broadcast the launch.

The lunar mission adds depth to a Chinese space program that has sent astronauts orbiting the Earth twice in the past four years.

Although national pride is one benefit of the program, China is also looking for scientific and military benefits.

Wednesday's launch marks the first step of a three-stage moon mission. In about 2012 there will be a landing with a rover. In the third phase, about five years later, another rover will land on the moon and be returned to Earth with lunar samples.

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