The Chang’e 3 lunar lander and moon rover is part of the second phase of China’s three-step robotic lunar exploration program. (Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering)
China will send an unmanned space probe to the moon along with a rover early next month in what would be the country’s first lunar landing.
“China is scheduled to launch Chang’e-3 lunar probe in December,” a spokesman with State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said today.
The lunar probe will land on the moon in mid-December if everything is successful, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted SASTIND spokesman Wu Zhijian as saying.
Chang’e-3, consisting of a lander and a moon rover, will mark the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to soft-land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.
The moon rover was named “Yutu”, or jade rabbit, following an online poll seeking name proposals from the Chinese worldwide.
In Chinese folklore, Yutu is the white pet rabbit of Chang’e, who has been worshipped as the moon goddess in China for thousands of years and whose name is used for the country’s lunar probe progress.
The Chang’e-3 mission is the second phase of China’s lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth, the Xinhua report said.
China had launched its Chang’e-1 orbiter in 2007 and Chang’e-2 in 2010.
The first probe retrieved a great deal of scientific data and a complete map of the moon, while the second created a full high-resolution map of the moon and a high-definition image of Sinus Iridium, a lunar landmark.
Chang’e-2 which was launched on Oct 1, 2010 orbited the moon to finish a more extensive probe than its predecessor Chang’e-1.
After finishing its lunar objectives in June, 2011, Chang’e-2 left its lunar orbit for an extended mission to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrangian point, according to Chinese space officials.
PTI
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