China launches first big step to Moon, Chang’e 1

William Atkins
Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:03

Science - Space

Microsoft Office 365

According to NASA’s Solar System Exploration website, the Chang’e 1 spacecraft has four objectives:

(1) "To 'draw' pictures of the moon, or to obtain 3-dimensional imagery of the lunar surface. "
(2) "To detect the contents and distribution of a number of chemical elements on the lunar surface."
(3) "To probe preliminarily the depth of lunar soil, or regolith."
(4) "To explore the cislunar space environment.”

Additional information about Chang’e 1 is found in the iTWire article “China ready for launch of first lunar spacecraft: Chang’e 1”.

China is aggressively promoting its space program. It recently became the third country (behind Russia [Soviet Union] and the United States) to place one of its own astronauts in space. Although all countries are downplaying the “Race to the Moon” scenario, China is in competition with Japan, India, the United States, and other countries to be the first to place footsteps on the Moon in the twenty-first century.

The "New Space Race" is a combination of healthy competition and mutual cooperation by the players. The next ten to fifteen years should be a very exciting time in space exploration as several countries attempt unmanned and manned landings on the Moon and unmanned landings on Mars for expected manned landings further out in the twenty-first century. As countries continue to explore space, the private sector is following in their footsteps in order to allow access to space for more people (as space tourists)  around the world.

Additional information on the New Space Race is found within the iTWire article “The New Space Race: It’s not just the United States versus the Soviet Union anymore!”.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA), China's equivalent to NASA in the United States, also talks about its Chang'e 1 probe at the website: http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/n772514/n772543/93747.html.