China will land the country's first probe on the moon in early December, deploying a rover to explore the lunar surface, officials announced Tuesday.
The Chang'e-3 spacecraft, which includes a lander and a moon rover, will be the first time a Chinese vessel has soft-landed on the surface of an extraterrestrial body. The Chang'e-1 spacecraft was launched in 2007 to orbit the moon and photograph its surface, a second orbiter was launched in 2010.
The moon rover was named Yutu by a public vote (玉兔, Yùtù), the name means "jade rabbit", a reference to the lunar goddess Chang'e – for whom the spacecraft are named after – who kept a pet rabbit according to Chinese folklore.
"Chang'e-3's mission requires mastering many key technologies. The technical difficulties and the risks involved in carrying out the mission will be high," spokesperson Wu Zhijian said at a press conference to announce the mission. "In taking on the mission to land on the moon, Chang'e-3 will help China fulfill it's lunar exploration dream, it's space dream and the Chinese dream."
Following a successful landing, the rover will explore the moon's surface, sending back data and also serving to test deep space communication technology, Wu said.
Chinese space program officials have previously discussed the possibility of sending an astronaut to the moon some time after 2020.
At a separate press conference, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) – not ones to pass up free publicity – revealed a series of press metal statuettes of Chang-e to mark the upcoming launch. The limited edition sculptures by Chinese artist Yuan Xikun are the world's only gold artworks embedded with rocket debris.
[Images via Xinhua, ECNS]
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