bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents


China launched its first moon rover mission early Monday, state TV showed, the latest step in an ambitious space programme seen as a symbol of its rising global stature.
The Chang’e-3 rocket carrying the Jade Rabbit rover blasted off around 1:30 am (Sunday 1730 GMT), the CCTV official broadcaster showed in live footage from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the country’s southwest.
As it shot into the dark sky, mission observers could be heard reporting at regular intervals that things were proceeding "normally". 
Within an hour the director of the launch centre Zhang Zhenzhong appeared before staff and declared the mission a “success”, CCTV showed.

The probe is due to land on the moon in mid-December to explore its surface and look for natural resources. It is the world’s third lunar rover mission following the United States and former Soviet Union decades earlier.
Chief probe designer Sun Zezhou hailed the mission as having “great scientific and economic significance”, according to the Xinhua state news agency.
“The mission has contributed to the development of a number of space technologies and some of them can be applied in civilian sector,” it paraphrased Sun as saying.
China sees its space programme as a symbol of its growing international status and technological advancement, as well as of the Communist Party’s success in reversing the fortunes of the once impoverished nation.
It aims to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send someone to the moon.
Since 2003 it has sent 10 astronauts into space and launched an orbiting space module, Tiangong-1. It also sent probes to orbit the moon in 2007 and 2010.
The first of those intentionally crashed into the moon’s surface at the end of its mission.
Data it collected was used to create in 2008 what Xinhua called “the most complete lunar hologram to date”.
The second probe was sent to “verify key technology”, orbit the moon and take pictures of the landing site in preparation for Chang’e-3, Xinhua said.
After completing that task it was sent into deep space to monitor an astroid.
The latest mission would bolster scientific knowledge as well as national pride, said Morris Jones, independent space analyst based in Australia.
“The Chinese are making rapid advances in spaceflight,” he said. “They’re going to get a lot of prestige out of this mission.”
The moon remains “largely unexplored”, Jones added, so “I expect that the Chinese rover will probably throw a few surprises our way scientifically”.
The rover’s name Jade Rabbit, or “Yutu”, was chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters.
It comes from an ancient Chinese myth about a rabbit living on the moon as the pet of Chang’e, a lunar goddess who swallowed an immortality pill.
The vehicle can climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200 metres (660 feet) per hour, according to its designer, the Shanghai Aerospace Systems Engineering Research Institute.
Unlike earlier American and Soviet versions, the Chang’e-3 could ”accurately survey landforms at the landing site and identify the safest spots on which to land”, Xinhua has said.
China was able to improve on earlier rovers by incorporating technology developed in recent decades, said Jones.
These included optical navigation systems which could provide pictures to warn of unsafe landing spots, whereas American and Soviet rovers could only rely on radar to gauge their distance from the ground, he said.
The mission had generated anticipation in recent days, with users of Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, vowing to stay up to watch the live coverage.
“The news on TV about Chang’e 3 has made me incredibly proud,” one commenter said ahead of the launch.


US and China talking about how to preserve Neil Armstrong’s footprint on the moon, top scientist says

China’s out-of-sight lunar mission

Countdown starts for China’s Chang’e 6 sample mission to the far side of the moon

Feared failure of Peregrine mission could put US behind China in the moon race, space policy expert says

Jade Rabbit lunar rover

Blast off: China launches its first moon rover mission

The Long March 3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Photo: AFP

The Long March 3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Photo: AP

The launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. Photo: Xinhua

The Beijing Aerospace Control Centre in Beijing.

The Chang'e-3 rocket carrying the Jade Rabbit rover prior to its launch, at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwest province of Sichuan. Photo: AFP

Why historic lunar mission is a daunting test for China's scientists

The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense introduces China's lunar probe at a press conference in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

A prototype model of a lunar rover at the 15th China International Industry Fair in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

China's Chang'e lunar launch has backup of European space scientists

A lunar rover was at the China International Industry Fair in Shanghai last month. Photo: Reuters

Maurizio Falanga is executive director of the International Space Science Institute-Beijing. Photo: Simon Song

News

China

The Chang’e-3 rocket carrying the Jade Rabbit rover blasted off around 1:30 am, the CCTV official broadcaster showed in live footage from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country’s southwest.


.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Update | Blast off: China launches its first moon rover mission

Update | Blast off: China launches its first moon rover mission