This Day, That Year

Item from Nov 27, 2007, in China Daily: China published the first lunar image captured by orbiter Chang’e 1 yesterday, marking the start of the satellite’s mission to document the moon’s landscape. The success has laid a solid foundation for follow-on scientific exploration and research.

The Chang’e 1 mission in 2007 inaugurated an era of lunar exploration for China, divided into three phases.

The probe ended its 16-month mission on March 1, 2009, when it crashed onto the moon’s surface. Chang’e 2 was launched in 2010.

In December 2013, the Chang’e 3 probe carried the nation’s first lunar rover, Yutu (Jade Rabbit), to the moon, which marked mankind’s first soft landing on the moon in nearly four decades.

Chang’e 3’s success marked the completion of the second phase of the country’s lunar exploration program.

China is currently planning to be the first country to land a lunar probe on the far side — or “dark side” — of the moon, which is never visible from Earth.

Chang’e 4 will be launched next year and will carry 11 scientific experiments, including four developed by other countries.

The third phase of the country’s lunar exploration will bring samples from the moon back to Earth, paving the way for a future manned expedition. The Chang’e 5 lunar probe is expected to land in the Mons Rumker region of the moon.

But China’s vision extends farther than the moon.

It is now on track to launch its first Mars probe around 2020, and plans to retrieve soil and rock samples from the red planet before 2030.