Post date: Dec 16, 2013 11:42:17 AM
China's state media releases a video of its rover landing on the moon and still images of the rover and the lander.
IN SPACE (DECEMBER 14, 2013) (CCTV) - Chinese state media released footage on Monday (December 16) after the country's first probe landed successfully on the moon over the weekend.
The Chang'e 3 probe, named after a goddess in traditional Chinese mythology, landed on the moon on Saturday (December 14), setting down a lunar rover called the "Jade Rabbit".The rover and the lander then took photographs of each other on Sunday (December 15), China's state television, CCTV reported.
The "Jade Rabbit" buggy, which will dig and conduct geological surveys, will be remotely controlled by Chinese control centres with support from a network of tracking and transmission stations around the world operated by the European Space Agency (ESA).
China said on Monday (December 16) that it aims to launch the next generation of unmanned moon probe in 2017 charged mainly with the task to collect and send back lunar samples.
Advancing China's space programme has been a priority for the leadership, with President Xi Jinping calling for China to establish itself as a space power.
China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space programmes, for military, commercial and scientific purposes.