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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

China aims to land probe on moon next year

The Long March II-F rocket loaded with a Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft carrying Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang lifts off from the launch pad in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province June 16, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING (REUTERS) - China aims to land its first probe on the moon in the second half of next year, state media reported on Monday, the next step in an ambitious space progamme which includes building a space station.

In 2007, China launched its first moon orbiter, the Chang'e One orbiter, named after a lunar goddess, which took images of the surface and analysed the distribution of elements.
That launch marked the first step in China's three-stage moon mission, to be followed by an unmanned moon mission and then the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017.
The official China News Service said that the Chang'e Three would carry out surveys on the surface of the moon when it is launched in 2013. It provided no further details. Chinese scientists have talked of the possibility of sending a man to the moon after 2020.

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