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Chinese media trumpet space launch
Beijing (AFP) Oct 25, 2007 China's rise as a space power poses no threat to the rest of the world, official media said Thursday, as it celebrated the successful start of the nation's efforts to send a man to the moon. "The country has long before made clear that its space programmes are for peaceful purposes," said an editorial in the English-language China Daily, a newspaper used by the government to express its views to a foreign audience. "It (China) is willing to join international cooperation in peaceful space exploration." China on Wednesday successfully launched the Chang'e I satellite to explore and map the lunar surface, the first major step in its ambitions to put a man on the moon by around 2020. The start of the year-long mission is being seen in China as the third major milestone for the nation's space programme, after developing rockets and satellites and sending men into orbit in 2003 and 2005. China's expedition, which officials said is costing 1.4 billion yuan (184 million dollars), is part of a frantic period of activity in an Asian space race. Japan, which also wants to put a man on the moon by 2020, last month launched its own lunar orbiter, while India is looking to send off a similar mission early next year. In an interview with China's official Xinhua news agency, the chief commander of the Chinese lunar satellite project, Luan Enjie, acknowledged that "a new wave of moon exploration" was underway. However Luan sought to play down the concept of a growing international space rivalries. "China will not embark on any lunar probe competition in any form with any country and will share the results of its moon exploration with the whole world," Xinhua cited him as saying. Nevertheless, China's media boasted that the lunar orbiter was a sign of the nation's rising global influence. "The fact that this ambitious mission... entirely relies on Chinese technology speaks volumes for the country's growing national strength and advancement in science and technology," the China Daily's editorial said. Meanwhile a commentary in the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece, sought to allay concerns in China that its space programme remained decades behind those of the United States and Russia. "In this field of space science, China is a latecomer, but we are a confident latecomer," said the commentary. Related Links The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology China News from SinoDaily.com
Chang'e-1 - New Mission To Moon Lifts Off
Paris, France (ESA) Oct 25, 2007A bold new mission to the Moon was launched today by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA). Chang'e-1 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan, atop a Long March 3A rocket. Chang'e-1 represents the first step in the Chinese ambition to land robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020. Chang'e-1 has four mission goals to accomplish. The first is to make three-dimensional images of many lunar landforms and outline maps of major lunar geological structures. This mapping will include the first detailed images taken of some regions near the lunar poles. |
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