Posted on 08/10/2007 2:46:41 PM PDT by LibWhacker
China plans to survey all of the moon's surface before eventually bringing bits of it back to Earth, state media reported Friday.
A full moon is visible in this 2005 view above the Earth's horizon. China plans to survey all of the moon's surface before eventually bringing bits of the planet back to Earth. [File]
"We would like to survey every inch of the moon's surface," Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the China's moon exploration project, was quoted as saying on the website of Chinese News Service.
Ouyang, speaking at a conference in southwestern China this week, said China's lunar exploration programme was divided into three phases: orbiting the moon, landing on the lunar surface and coming back to Earth with samples.
China hopes to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon to survey it systematically and after that, will attempt to collect samples of it bring back to Earth, he said.
China's space agency chief, Sun Laiyan, said earlier this year that the country aimed to launch its first lunar orbiter in the second half of 2007.
"The moon probe project is the third milestone in China's space technology after satellite and manned spacecraft projects, and a first step for us in exploring deep space," the China National Space Administration head said.
The orbiter represented the first phase, with a moon rover to be used in the second phase scheduled for around 2012, reports said.
The plan for the third phase was for another rover to land on the lunar surface and collect samples before returning to Earth.
China would continue to research manned space missions, including a space walk and experiments to link passing spacecraft, he said.
In 2003 China successfully launched astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man in space.
Its space ambitions have continued to grow and China announced in March that it would launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars in 2009.
We own it.
They have to get there first.
they could use the moon’s vast resources to build millions of crappy plastic toys that break really easily
Been there, done that.
What does it mean to survey the moon. When my lot was surveyed they put a piece of rebar and cap on each of the four main corners. They never went into the interior of the parcel. I could have a one acre pond in the middle and they would not have noticed.
“China’s unmanned spacecraft recalled from the Moon due to use of unsafe, led-based, red paint.”
Correct, I don’t think it’s that kind of surveying. They’re looking for mineral resources.
If they mean remote sensing like what we are doing on Mars, there is a lot to be done for the moon since that was skipped along with the entire follow-on to Apollo.
Are they planning to make cheap knock-offs and sell them?
experiments to link passing spacecraft, ...........................................hummmmm: Very interesting..................
>> China plans to survey all of the moon’s surface before eventually bringing bits of the planet back to Earth.
Task one ... survey every inch of the definition of “planet”.
Good grief. As yet, China’s scientific prowess is not particularly impressive. They can’t even make non-toxic dog food, reasonably nonthreatening toothpaste or tires where the treads don’t come off ... many a Chinaman will likely die in half-assed homemade rockets that are supposedly moonbound.
H
If they're that ambitious....
algore told them the Moon’s Green Cheese was really melamine and seein as they used up most of their stock on dog food they need to refill.
We were light-years ahead of them. They were still getting around by oxcart when Neil Armstrong was walking on the moon. Damned Luddite 'rats. They're to blame for this. They held us back and gave the oxcart people time to catch up.
Oh, my eyes!
Oh common, she doesn’t look that good!!! LOL
Well Russia just claimed the north poll. Suspect China will claim the moon.
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