China launches rocket with its first moon lander and rover

The Long March rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 1:30 a.m. Monday, Beijing time (9:30 a.m. PST Sunday), the official Xinhua news agency reported.

If all goes as planned, a landing vehicle and the roving vehicle will touch down on the moon’s surface in about two weeks. It will be the first time that anybody has done a soft landing (one in which the vehicle remains intact) on the moon since 1976, when the Soviet Union landed the Luna 24 probe.

The unmanned rover is a gold-colored vehicle that looks like a dune buggy. It is expected to conduct various scientific experiments such as planting a telescope on the moon’s surface and exploring under the surface of the moon, as well as transmitting photographs back to Earth.

The real purpose, aerospace experts believe, is to practice the techniques to eventually put a man on the moon.

“It comes at a time when America is dithering. Russia has lost the plot a bit. China sees the possibility of leading,” said David Whitehouse, a British astrophysicist who has written a book about the moon. “It will upset the Americans because the Americans think they own the moon.”

For domestic audiences, the propaganda value is huge and Chinese media are playing it to the hilt. Even the name of the rover, Jade Rabbit, was selected by a public poll. The name refers to the pet rabbit of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e – which is the name of the landing vehicle as well. Two previous Chang’e missions orbited the moon in 2007 and 2010.

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