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China's first-ever mission to land a rover on the moon has begun its journey to the lunar frontier.
Riding atop a modified Long March 3B rocket, China's Chang'e 3 moon landerand its rover Yutu toward the moon at 1:30 a.m. Monday (Dec. 2) local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country's Sichuan province. It was 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) on Dec. 1 at launch time.
If the probe continues on track, Chang'e 3 will land on the lunar surface by mid-December, becoming the first spacecraft to touch down on the moon in more than 37 years. The moon landing mission was the former Soviet Union's robotic Luna 24 sample return mission in 1976.
Shortly after the Chang'e 3 spacecraft separated from its rocket, launch officials declared the liftoff a success.
"The Chang'e probe on its way to the moon, of course, is a symbol of China's national prowess," Zhang Zhenzhoung, director of China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, according to a translation by the state-run CCTV news broadcast. "Let's all work together ... to make more efforts in space exploration and realize the Chinese dream."
Chang'e 3 is expected to touch down by Dec. 14 or 15 to begin conducting scientific surveys on the moon. The mission is China's first-ever landing on the surface of an extraterrestrial body and signals a shift into the second stage ofChina's lunar exploration program. That program consists of three major steps: orbit the moon, land on the moon, and return moon rock samples to Earth by 2020.
China's first two unmanned moon missions, the Chang'e 1 andChang'e 2 lunar orbiterflights, launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
Rest of the article on this link.
China's 1st Moon Rover Launches On Lunar Journey | Space.com
Congrats to China for its Successful Launch.
Riding atop a modified Long March 3B rocket, China's Chang'e 3 moon landerand its rover Yutu toward the moon at 1:30 a.m. Monday (Dec. 2) local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country's Sichuan province. It was 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) on Dec. 1 at launch time.
If the probe continues on track, Chang'e 3 will land on the lunar surface by mid-December, becoming the first spacecraft to touch down on the moon in more than 37 years. The moon landing mission was the former Soviet Union's robotic Luna 24 sample return mission in 1976.
Shortly after the Chang'e 3 spacecraft separated from its rocket, launch officials declared the liftoff a success.
"The Chang'e probe on its way to the moon, of course, is a symbol of China's national prowess," Zhang Zhenzhoung, director of China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, according to a translation by the state-run CCTV news broadcast. "Let's all work together ... to make more efforts in space exploration and realize the Chinese dream."
Chang'e 3 is expected to touch down by Dec. 14 or 15 to begin conducting scientific surveys on the moon. The mission is China's first-ever landing on the surface of an extraterrestrial body and signals a shift into the second stage ofChina's lunar exploration program. That program consists of three major steps: orbit the moon, land on the moon, and return moon rock samples to Earth by 2020.
China's first two unmanned moon missions, the Chang'e 1 andChang'e 2 lunar orbiterflights, launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
Rest of the article on this link.
China's 1st Moon Rover Launches On Lunar Journey | Space.com
Congrats to China for its Successful Launch.
