The View from Chang’e-1
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You may or may not know China has a burgeoning space program. As part of the Chinese space program, a spacecraft named Chang’e-1, was launched on October 24th from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern Sichuan Province, bound for the moon.
On November 7th the Chang’e-1 reached the moon, and was placed into a circular lunar orbit at an altitude of 200 km. On November 20 and 21st the orbiter took its first images of the moon. The 19 images were sent back to Earth and pieced together to make the mosaic to the left.
The image at the right is the justifiably proud, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveiling the image the public.
The Chang’e-1 is so named after a Chinese goddess who, as legend has it, flew to the moon and has been worshipped for thousands of years. The orbiter is outfitted with a stereo camera and interferometer, an imager and gamma/X-ray spectrometer, a laser altimeter, a microwave detector, a high-energy solar particle detector and a low-energy ion detector. Plenty of science is going to be done.
Chinese authorities are not planning to put a man on the moon anytime soon, but they do have plans for a rover type of vehicle with in 10 years.
While China has launched more than 20 satellites and sent men into space as recently as 2005, this is a great feat and one that was done very quickly. Bravo!
Source: Xinhua
hi
i live in beijing. I am a novice astronomer who just comes from america that ended up working in beijing for the past 4 years.
this event is huge in china however some of the upplay in the minds of chinese is really overdrawn. especially what some of the officials say.
“when china gets to the moon americans will not like it”
haha thats funny. because who cares? its all relative to each other. china’s achievments will of course enhance all nations.
besides didn’t we go there like…hmmmmmmm. 40 years ago?
and…who is to say that china and america cannot work together in the future. i wish these two nations can put down their politics and work as a team. that way all “superpowers” can pool their resources and get the ultimate results.
– greed can be a powerful ally.
Yes, David, I strongly second your opionion about pooling the nations’ resources on space exploration. Instead of a “space race”, why don’t we have a space cooperation of the human race? Sending men to Mars and beyond will require join effort of the whole human race for sure. Mining He-3 should also be one too. The moon is for everyone on the Earth, should be explored by mankind together too.
I disagree. The Moon is a holy place not to be mined or shat on. We have a planet already in dire need of clean up and here we are exploiting the Moon when the planet Earth is being trashed. Sorry to rain on your parade but let’s get our priorities straight. I’m all for exploration and science but there is a need and a demand for it here, on this planet.
I agree that China should work with the US and all nations for that matter, for the mere benefit that the more eyes we have peering into the unknown, the more answers (and questions) we will achieve.
Well, the thing is fossile fule will be long gone before you can clean up the Earth and solve World Hunger! Earth is priority No. 1, no doubt about that. But to solve the Earch’s issues, like energy demand, you may have to go to space for a solution, like He-3. Besides, space exploration is a BIG BIG drivng force for technology advancement, think of the micro-chip in your pc, it would not have been here if not for Apolo missions. $$’s spent on the moon benefit the poors on the Earch in a strange way.
Does anyone know of some kind of “official” link to China where I could sent my congratulations?