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| The Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 2, 2013. It will be the first time for China to send a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where it will conduct surveys on the moon. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin) |
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XICHANG, Sichuan, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe with its first moon rover "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit) aboard blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China early Monday.
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Conditions fine for China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe launch
XICHANG, Sichuan, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- All systems involving the launch of the Chang'e-3 lunar probe are in normal and sound condition as the launch is within an hour, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center announced early Monday.
The weather at the launch site is also favorable for the launch scheduled at 1:30 a.m. Monday, the center said. Full story
Rocket ready to launch China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe
XICHANG, Sichuan, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Long March-3B rocket to carry the Chang'e-3 lunar probe is in normal and sound condition as the launch is within less than two hours, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center announced late Sunday.
It will be the first time for China to send a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where it will conduct surveys on the moon. Full story
Video>>China's Chang'e-3 moon rover to be launched early December
China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe early Monday
XICHANG, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- China will launch the Chang'e-3 lunar probe to the moon at 1:30 a.m. Monday from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the mission's launching headquarters said here Saturday.
It will be the first time for China to send a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where it will conduct surveys on the moon.Full story
Interview: China's upcoming lunar probe fantastic: U.S. expert
HOUSTON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's upcoming launch of Chang'e-3 lunar probe is "fantastic" and its space program "impressive", a U.S. space expert said.
"I think it's fantastic. It has been a long time since human has been on the Moon," David Alexander, director of Rice University's space institute, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.Full story
Narrow windows for China's lunar probe launch
XICHANG, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The launch of China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe, scheduled in early December, will have to target multiple narrow windows that last only minutes each, said a spokesman for the project Friday..
"The lunar probe currently has two launch windows each day for three consecutive days. The first window on the first day lasts four minutes, and the second window one minute," said Pei Zhaoyu, spokesman for the lunar probe mission, at a press briefing in Xichang, Sichuan Province.Full story
China pursues "zero window" launch for lunar probe
BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- China will strive to launch its Chang'e-3 lunar probe at the optimal time within the launch window, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center said on Friday.
China is scheduled to launch the probe in early December. It will be the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to soft-land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.Full story
China names moon rover "Yutu"
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has named its first moon rover "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 program.Full story
China targeting navigation system's global coverage by 2020
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's homegrown navigation system BeiDou is expected to achieve full-scale global coverage by around 2020, a leading scientist told Xinhua on Sunday.
The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) will then be able to provide highly accurate and reliable positioning, navigation and timing service with the aid of a constellation of 35 satellites, said Ye Peijian, chief commander of Chang'e-3, China's lunar probe mission.Full story
Chinese probe reaches record height in space travel
BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhua) -- China's space probe Chang'e-2 has flew to an outer space about 50 million km from the Earth, marking a new height in the nation's deep space exploration, Chinese scientists said on Sunday.
The probe, which is now "in good conditions", reached the height at around 1 a.m. Sunday Beijing Time, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence(SASTIND) said in a statement.Full story
China's astronauts ready for longer missions
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese astronauts are capable of conducting medium and long-term space missions and enduring the harsh physical conditions involved, a senior astronaut said on Thursday.
"FromShenzhouV to Shenzhou X, we have been laying the foundation for future medium and long-term missions," said Nie Haisheng, one of three astronauts who took part in last month's 15-day space mission, the longest yet for China.Full story
Backgrounder: The Moon in Chinese poetry
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