China Launches Probe and Rover to Moon

Time: 2016-03-18

After the United States and the former Soviet Union have soft landed on the moon, China launched the Chang'e3 lunar probe with the country's first moon rover aboard early on Monday, marking a significant step toward deep space exploration.In 2007, After orbitingfor 494 days and intentionally crashing onto the lunar surface, Chang'1 sent back 1.37 terabytes of data, producing China's first complete moon picture.
In 2010,Chang'e2verified some crucial technologies for Chang'e3 and reconnoitered the landing area. It also made the world's first lunar holographic image with a resolution of 7 meters.In 2013,Chang'e3 is expected to land on the moon in midDecember to become China's first spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.
Chang'e3, comprising a lander and a moon rover called "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit), presents a modern scientific version of an ancient Chinese myth.Two tasks are included inthis lunar mission.The probe's softlanding is the most difficult task during the mission,but if successful,this will be a breakthrough for China to realize zero distance observation and survey on the moon;tasks for the moon rover include surveyingthe moon's geological structure and surface substances, while looking for natural resources.A telescope will be set up on the moon, for the first time in human history, to observe the plasmasphere over the Earth and survey the moon surface
through radar.
The lunar probe mission is of great scientific and economic significance and contributes to the development of a number of space technologies and some of them can be applied in civilian sector.