China Aims For Lunar Base After 2020

China Aims For Lunar Base After 2020

China plans to set up a lunar base after 2020, capping a series of preparatory robotic missions and a human landing on the moon, a Chinese space official said Wednesday.

The Chang'e 1 lunar probe is now at the launch site and undergoing final tests ahead of its scheduled launch before the end of 2007, said Ji Wu, director of China's Centre for Space Science and Applied Research.

China's first lunar mission would be followed by robotic missions in subsequent years that would be broadened to landing on the lunar surface and returning to Earth, then a brief human visit, Ji told the international astronautics congress under way in this southern Indian city.

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