Oct 25 : Moon, the round white object hanging in the sky has always been an object of mystery, very much a part of our lives controlling tides in the ocean and emotions too. It controls the vital part of our lives and the life cycle of various magnificent creatures of this world. The only satellite to orbit around the earth has always grabbed the attention of an inquisitive child and the scientific community.
The mystery of Moon has influenced so much that a new race has began to reach moon.
America and Russia have already made the voyage to Moon. China too held its head high with its National Anthem “East Is Red” being played when it made its presence felt on the surface of moon.
China with its bold mission launched Chang’e-1 from Xichang launch Centre, Sichuan atop a Long March 3A rocket on October 24, 2007.
The lunar probe Chang'e-1 named on the legendary moon goddess Chang’e of China launched on Wednesday. It is programmed to complete a one year voyage.
This spacecraft weigh around 2,300 kg and has four goals to achieve, which include getting three dimensional images of many lunar landforms and to outline the map of major lunar geological structures. It will also analyse the abundance of at least 14 chemical elements and their distribution across the lunar surface.
It will also measure the depth of lunar soil exploring the space-weather relation between the Earth and Moon.
The scientist from China asserts that this spacecraft is unique for its capability of completing the task which has not been achieved by other countries in this field so far.
This will certainly give a thrust to the journey by China to explore the unknown space. And by launching, it becomes the second country after Japan in Asia to successfully launch this Moon mission. Earlier Japan had launched ‘Selene’ as its Moon Mission.
This launch will also accelerate the upcoming manned Moon mission of China. Ouyang Ziyuan, Chief Scientist of China’s Lunar exploration programme said, “Launching man-made satellites, manned space flights and conducting deep-space exploration constitute a trilogy of space activities”.
Sun Laiyan, Director of the China National Space Administration, had earlier said that the moon could be used as a "relay station" from where scientist can explore other celestial bodies.
China officially approved its lunar probe program in 2004 with its first step being the launch of a satellite to orbit the moon.
Ye Peijian, Chief Designer and Commander-in-Chief of the satellite system of the country's 1 st lunar probe program said that the Chinese program started relatively late, but it has a high starting point.
"Our first step is to circle the moon, not a flyby," he said.
“Besides, we have clear-cut scientific objectives, some of which have never been done successfully or not attempted at all,” he added.
European Space Agency has also landed its support to make the Chinese moon mission a successful story.
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