BEIJING
— China successfully launched a lunar probe into space Monday morning,
on a two-week journey to deliver a robotic rover to the surface of the
moon. The mission marks China's first attempt at soft-landing a
spacecraft on an extra-terrestrial body, and could benefit future plans
to land Chinese astronauts on the moon.
A Long March rocket
carrying the Chang'e 3 lunar lander blasted off at 1:30 a.m. local time
Monday from southwest China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, reported
the official Xinhua News Agency.
"We will strive for our space
dream as part of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation,'' said the
center's director, Zhang Zhenzhong. China's ruling Communist Party has
used the military-backed, state-run space program to boost national
pride and support for its policies.
By mid-December, Chang'e 3
aims to land on the moon's Bay of Rainbows, and unleash the six-wheeled,
solar-powered Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, lunar rover to look for natural
resources and conduct geological surveys for three months. China hopes
to become the third nation, after the USA and the former Soviet Union,
to achieve a difficult "soft landing" on the moon, whereby the
spacecraft and equipment remain intact. An earlier Chinese orbiter made
an intentional crash-landing on the moon.
The spacecraft, bearing
China's red, five-starred flag, will become the first to visit the moon
since the last Soviet unmanned mission there in 1976. One new feature is
a ground-penetrating radar to measure the lunar soil and crust. The
mission represents the second stage of China's slow but steady lunar
program. In phase three, China will send another robotic probe to gather
lunar samples, possibly by 2020. A manned mission could then follow.
While
China's space achievements appear to imitate those of the USA and
Soviet Union in decades past, they stir considerable pride and
nationalism within China, whose government stresses its use of
indigenous technology, and peaceful aims in space. Live TV broadcasts
showed excited scenes at the launch center, where a reporter from the
national broadcaster CCTV embraced one delighted designer.
Some viewers who stayed up to watch later went online to celebrate.
"The
scientists are so great," wrote an "inspired and proud" Wang Wei on
Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like micro-blog platform. "Of course there's still
a definite gap from America sending humans to the moon, but this is
already amazing," wrote Wang, an economics professor in east China's
Shandong province.
Other Internet users said the launch was even more stunning than the space movie Gravity,
currently no.1 at China's box office. Legend and literature abound in
China's real space program, where the space station that saves the day
in Gravity is called the Heavenly Palace, lunar spacecraft are
named after moon goddess Chang'e, and the lunar rover is named after her
pet rabbit.
While China's citizens cannot choose their leaders,
they were able to participate in an Internet poll that chose the "Jade
Rabbit" name. Chinese poets and folklore artists down the centuries have
depicted a white rabbit pounding a mortar and pestle to create an
elixir of immortality.
The secret of eternal life may remain
elusive, but Chinese scientists are hopeful the moon may offer up other
treasures such as rare metals and Helium-3, a potential fusion energy
source. China's ultimate aim is to use the moon as a "springboard" for
deep space exploration, said Luan Enjie, a senior adviser to China's
lunar program, in the China Daily newspaper.
The USA should
overcome its objections and cooperate with China in space, wrote Leroy
Chiao, a former NASA astronaut and commander of the International Space
Station, on the website Space.com in October.
"America, already on
the decline after the retirement of the space shuttle (now only Russia
and China can launch astronauts into space), will on the way down hand
over the leadership position of human spaceflight to the Chinese," he
said. Partnering with China "could be a win-win-win for all", but
"certain members of the U.S. Congress are dedicated to keeping China
out, dooming the United States to continue its decline in human
spaceflight," Chiao wrote.
Contributing: Sunny Yang
No comments:
Post a Comment