(Xinhua Photo)
China launches its first lunar probe on 24 Oct., the first step into its ambitious three-stage moon mission, marking a new milestone in the country's space exploration history. Scientists from various CAS institutes have contributed to the development of the effective payloads aboard the lunar mission.
China launched its first lunar probe on 24 October, the first step into its ambitious three-stage moon mission, marking a new milestone in the country's space exploration history.
The circumlunar satellite Chang'e-1 blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket at 6:05 p.m. from the No. 3 launching tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch Center of southwestern Sichuan Province. It will fulfil four scientific objectives, including a three-dimensional survey of the Moon's surface, analysis of the abundance and distribution of elements on lunar surface, an investigation of the characteristics of lunar regolith and the powdery soil layer on the surface, and an exploration of the circumstance between the earth and the moon. Scientists from various CAS institutes have contributed to the development of the effective payloads aboard the lunar mission, including, among others, a CCD 3-D camera, an imaging interferometer, a Gamma-ray detector and an X-ray Fluorescence imaging spectrometer
