The legend of the beauty Chang’e who flied to the moon and became the Goddess have been spread for hundreds of years. In reality, China finally launches its plan to explore the moon. From AFP:
China plans to set up a lunar base after 2020, capping a series of preparatory robotic missions and a human landing on the moon, a Chinese space official said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The Chang’e 1 lunar probe is now at the launch site and undergoing final tests ahead of its scheduled launch before the end of 2007, said Ji Wu, director of China’s Centre for Space Science and Applied Research…
In 2003 China successfully launched astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man in space. [Full Text]
More background information on China’s lunar plan via China Lunar Base
Also check out the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) via Wikipedia.
