Computer model of the Chang'e 1 spacecraft. The People's Republic of China today launched its first moon orbiter as part of the country's lunar exploration program. The state television network broadcasted live footage of the countdown and launch, which took place in the presence of Chinese officials and some 2,000 Chinese who paid around US$100 to attend the event, but without any international press. The officially-Communist nation which hosts next year's Olympics hopes to put a taikonaut on the moon in 10 to 15 years. Last month, Japan launched a lunar probe while India hopes to achieve the same next April. In 2003, China used one of their own rockets to get the astronaut Yang Liwei into space. Yang told the Xinhua News Agency last week that once China has a manned space station, he and his fellow taikonauts could form a new branch of the Communist Party in space.
Computer model of the Chang'e 1 spacecraft. The People's Republic of China today launched its first moon orbiter as part of the country's lunar exploration program. The state television network broadcast live footage of the countdown and launch, which took place in the presence of Chinese officials and some 2,000 Chinese who paid around US$100 to attend the event, but without any international press. The officially-Communist nation which hosts next year's Olympics hopes to put a taikonaut on the moon in ten to 15 years. Last month, Japan launched a lunar probe while India hopes to achieve the same next April. In 2003, China used one of their own rockets to get the astronaut Yang Liwei into space. Yang told the Xinhua News Agency last week that once China has a manned space station, he and his fellow taikonauts could form a new branch of the Communist Party in space.
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