China Releases Images of Proposed Lunar Landing Site

[n2doc]

By Lisa Grossman November 10, 2010 | 2:32 pm | Categories: Space


The first images from China’s Chang’e-2 lunar probe were released Nov. 8.

The photos show a lunar lava plain called Sinus Iridium (Bay of Rainbows), a proposed destination for China’s first lunar rover in 2013. China also has plans to bring lunar rocks back to Earth in 2017.

Chang’e-2 launched Oct. 1 and entered an orbit 62 miles above the lunar surface Oct. 9. To take the pictures, the orbiter swooped to an altitude of just 9 miles. The photos have 100-times-higher resolution than those taken by the orbiter’s predecessor, Chang’e-1, in 2007.

“The relaying back of the pictures shows that the Chang’e-2 mission is a success,” said Zhang Jiahao, director of the lunar exploration center under the China National Space Administration, in a press release.



http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/11/chinese-moon-photos/

[gtar100]

1. Prediction: China will be the first (maybe only) country to colonize the moon

Heck, the money's flowing their way and they have the desire and the means. I wish them the best. They are the future of this world since American businessmen decided to sell off our future. Am I bitter? Yes. But my hope in humanity isn't related to countries. Just hope that China gets the human rights issue together before it decides to take over the universe.