Chinese leaders hail success of moon mission

Mon, 20 Dec 2010

Beijing - Chinese leaders on Monday celebrated the success of the Chang'e-2 lunar satellite mission, saying it would boost the nation's economic and technological development.

The second probe in China's lunar exploration program had "made breakthroughs in a series of core and key technologies", state media quoted President Hu Jintao as saying at a ceremony in Beijing.

The lunar program reflected a "strategic decision based on China's goal of building an innovation-driven nation and achieving rapid economic development," Hu said.

Chang'e-2 was launched on October 1 to prepare for the country's first unmanned moon landing scheduled for 2013.

It entered its long-term lunar orbit on November 3 and had started recording images of the moon's Sinus Iridum, or Bay of Rainbows, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Hu, Premier Wen Jiabao and the other seven members of the Communist Party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee attended Monday's ceremony, the agency said.

The main task of the probe's six-month mission is to test key technologies and collect data for future lunar landings, including high-resolution photos of the moon's surface.

Chang'e-1, China's first lunar probe, was launched in October 2007 and stayed in orbit for 16 months.

The satellites are named after a Chinese moon goddess.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358973,hail-success-moon-mission.html.