China has moon fully covered
By Yang Jian |
February 7, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday published the first map to cover the whole of the moon's surface, using images captured by the country's second lunar orbiter, the Chang'e-2.
The map released by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense comprises the highest-resolution lunar images published so far, said Liu Dongkui, deputy chief commander of China's lunar probe project.
The map, made up of 746 photographs, will prove useful for the country's plan to land men on the moon, the next step in its lunar program, the administration said.
The images were captured by a camera on the Chang'e-2 lunar probe from heights of 15 and 100 kilometers over the moon's surface between October 24, 2010 and May 20, 2011.
Scientists spent more than six months constructing the full lunar map.
The resolution of the images is 17 times finer than those taken by the earlier Chang'e-1, said Zhao Baochang, the camera's chief designer.
If there were airports and harbors on the moon, the Chang'e-1 could identify them while the Chang'e-2 could detect the planes or ships in them, said Tong Qingxi, an academician with the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China is to begin preparations to put a man on the moon within the next five years, the Chinese government said in December.
It will be able to land two to three astronauts on the lunar surface by 2025, said Long Lehao, deputy chief engineer of the country's lunar probe program.
China launched the Chang'e-2 on October 1, 2010, inaugurating the second phase of the country's three-step lunar exploration program to test key technologies and collect data for the Chang'e-3 mission that is due to be launched next year.
The Chang'e-2 sent back the first image of the moon's Bay of Rainbows on November 8, 2010. The area is a proposed landing ground for future missions.
The map released by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense comprises the highest-resolution lunar images published so far, said Liu Dongkui, deputy chief commander of China's lunar probe project.
The map, made up of 746 photographs, will prove useful for the country's plan to land men on the moon, the next step in its lunar program, the administration said.
The images were captured by a camera on the Chang'e-2 lunar probe from heights of 15 and 100 kilometers over the moon's surface between October 24, 2010 and May 20, 2011.
Scientists spent more than six months constructing the full lunar map.
The resolution of the images is 17 times finer than those taken by the earlier Chang'e-1, said Zhao Baochang, the camera's chief designer.
If there were airports and harbors on the moon, the Chang'e-1 could identify them while the Chang'e-2 could detect the planes or ships in them, said Tong Qingxi, an academician with the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China is to begin preparations to put a man on the moon within the next five years, the Chinese government said in December.
It will be able to land two to three astronauts on the lunar surface by 2025, said Long Lehao, deputy chief engineer of the country's lunar probe program.
China launched the Chang'e-2 on October 1, 2010, inaugurating the second phase of the country's three-step lunar exploration program to test key technologies and collect data for the Chang'e-3 mission that is due to be launched next year.
The Chang'e-2 sent back the first image of the moon's Bay of Rainbows on November 8, 2010. The area is a proposed landing ground for future missions.
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