Backgrounder: China's "triple jump" progress in lunar probes
Backgrounder: Timeline of China's lunar program
Special Report: China's lunar explorations
Graphics: Launch procedure of Chang'e-3 lunar probe
BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China needs to build a deep space monitoring station abroad because the existing network is not capable of tracking deep space detectors round the clock, a leading scientist said on Monday.
Despite having two monitoring stations in the country, there are still eight to ten hours a day during which China cannot track its deep space detectors, said Zhou Jianliang, chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, at a press conference.
"It is imperative to build a deep space monitoring station abroad in order to make up for blind measurements and realize round-the-clock monitoring for future deep space missions," Zhou said.
The stations in Kashgar, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Jiamusi, in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, were put into operation in 2012.
The two stations helped control lunar probe Chang'e 2, which was launched on Oct. 1, 2010, to fly by Toutatis, an asteroid about seven million km away from Earth on Dec. 13, 2012.
Chang'e 2, which is about 65 million km from Earth, is still being monitored by the two stations, according to Zhou.
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China announces Chang'e-3 mission "complete success"
BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ma Xingrui, chief commander of China's lunar program, announced on Sunday night Chang'e-3 mission a "complete success", after the lander and moon rover successfully took pictures of each other.Full story
Commentary: Chang'e-3's soft landing marks China's hard success
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The moon Saturday saw a rare new visitor -- lunar probe Chang'e-3 from China, the third country on earth which achieved a soft landing on it after theUnited Statesand the former Soviet Union.
The success also made China the first country that conducted a soft landing on Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, a lunar area that remains unstudied and silent for hundreds of millions of years, stamping new foot prints in the history of mankind's lunar exploration.Full story
China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe amazes world
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-3, which includes its first lunar rover named Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, has successfully soft landed on the Moon Saturday, fulfilling the long-awaited dream of moon landing of the Chinese nation.
Since the successful launching of Chang'e-3 mission early December, the Chang'e-3 lunar exploration program has been put in the spotlight. Now as Jade Rabbit has made its touchdown on the moon surface, the whole world again marvels at China's remarkable space capabilities and even extends their aspiration for space cooperation with China.Full story
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