Milestones in China's space exploration

gzlaser

from 21st Century

April 24, 1970

China launched its first satellite, known as Dongfanghong I, to orbit the Earth on its own Long March 1 space rocket on April 24, 1970. This made China the fifth nation to launch a satellite.

Nov. 1975

In November 1975, the Long March 2 rocket carried China's first \"homing satellite\" into orbit. That made China the third nation capable of retrieving a satellite.

Sept. 1981

The pace of China's space industry picked up in the 1980s and 1990s. In September 1981, It successfully put three satellites into orbit with one rocket.

1999

In 1999, China launched and recovered an unmanned capsule designed to carry men and women into orbit in the 21st century.

Nov. 19, 1999

Shenzhou I was launched on November 19, 1999. It made 14 orbits around the Earth carrying a dummy astronaut, experimental seeds, commemorative stamps, national flags and a banner with signatures of participating engineers and scientists.

2001 and 2002

Shenzhou II, III and IV were launched during 2001 and 2002.

Oct. 15, 2003

Shenzhou V was launched on October 15, 2003, carrying one astronaut, Yang Liwei, on a 21.5 hour flight. This made China the third country to send a lone human into orbit, after Russia and the United States.

Oct. 12, 2005

Shenzhou VI was launched on October 12, 2005, carrying two men, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, on a five-day flight 210 miles above the Earth.

Oct. 24, 2007-10-24

China is set to launch its first lunar orbiter on October 24, 2007, the first stage of its moon exploration project.

2010

China plans to undertake space-walking, build a spacecraft docking station and set up a space laboratory by 2010.

2017

The latter two stages of moon exploration project involve landing an unmanned lunar rover on the moon around 2012; and bringing back lunar soil and rock samples around 2017.

Chang'e I Mission

The lunar orbiter is expected to enter the Earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31; and the moon's orbit, 380,000 km from Earth, on November 5.

Objectives

* Drawing \"pictures\" of the moon and obtaining 3D images of the lunar surface. Making outline graphs of lunar geology and structures to provide a reference for later soft landings.

* Probing useful elements on the moon surface and analyzing the elements and materials. Making maps of the distribution of various elements on the moon's surface. Probing the features of lunar soil and evaluating its depth, as well as the amount of helium-3 resources.

* Probing the space environment and recording data on the primitive solar wind. Studying the impact of solar activity on the Earth and the moon.

Facts and figures

Chang'e I is only about 2.35 tons, lighter than a normal-sized elephant.

Its carrier rocket, Long March 3-A, is about 250 tons, about 100 times the weight of the Chang'e I satellite.

Long March 3-A is 52 meter in height, which is equal to a building with 17 storeys.

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dummy 模拟的，假的

docking (宇宙飞行器在轨道上)对接

commemorative 纪念的

orbit 轨道

primitive 原始的，远古的

soil 土壤