China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe in early Dec.
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, November 26, 2013
|
|
|
The Chang’e 3 lunar lander and moon rover is part of the second phase of China’s three-step robotic lunar exploration program. [File photo] |
![The Chang’e 3 lunar lander and moon rover is part of the second phase of China’s three-step robotic lunar exploration program. [File photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20131126/001aa0ba3c6a13fe516116.jpg "The Chang’e 3 lunar lander and moon rover is part of the second phase of China’s three-step robotic lunar exploration program. [File photo]")
The Chang'e-3 lunar probe is scheduled to be launched in early December and will land on the moon in mid-December if everything goes smooth, a spokesman with State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said Tuesday.
Chang'e-3, encompassing a lander and a moon rover, will mark the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to soft-land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, noted SASTIND spokesman Wu Zhijian.
"More than 80 percent of the technologies adopted in the mission are new," he said.
The mission is part of the second stage of China's three-stage, unmanned lunar exploration, which includes orbiting, landing, analyzing and returning with lunar soil and stone samples.
Chang’e 3 is built upon the success of China’s lunar orbiters Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2, which returned a catalog of lunar surface imagery and other data after launching in 2007 and 2010 respectively.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)