Lunar Goddess, China first moon orbiter
China launched its first moon orbiter with a patriotic propaganda celebrating the country’s space ambitions and technological prowess. The Chang’e One orbiter, named after a lunar goddess, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan and expected to arrive in moon orbit on Nov. 5.
The satellite also expected to beam back its first pictures of the moon in late November and continue in lunar orbit for about a year. This is the first step and to be followed by an unmanned moon landing and deployment of a moon rover planned for 2012 and the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017. Chinese scientists also talked about of the possibility of sending a man to the moon after 2020.
As a story, Chang’e is a mythical Chinese goddess who was banished to the earth with her husband for offending a heavenly emperor. Stealing an elixir for eternal life, she flew to the moon only to regret abandoning her husband and ending up sad and lonely.
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