China to launch a moon probe orbiter in 2007

China’s chief scientist of the moon probe programme confirmed that they plan to launch an unmanned lunar exploration orbiter, “Chang’e 1″ in 2007.

This would be China’s first such moon orbiting project and it would be a major step in their overall lunar exploration programme that began in 2004.

This orbiter is expected to provide 3D images of the moon’s surface and would probe into the distribution of 14 usable elements on the moon. In addition, it would also study lunar microwaves and estimate the thickness of the moon’s soil on the whole moon.

China also plans to use this orbiter to monitor the space environment between the moon and the earth.