China blasts off on lunar exploration

摘要

China's Moon exploration programme has kicked off with the launch of its first lunar orbiter. Launched on 24 October from Sichuan province in southwest China, the orbiter is a small step in an ambitious, and not yet official, plan to send astronauts to the Moon sometime after 2020. But its significance lies in Chinas hopes of becoming the fifth power to put a probe into lunar orbit.