| Super telescopes for moon-probe project tested (Xinhua)
 Updated: 2006-06-19 21:28
 Chinese scientists have for the first time tested the ability of four super 
radio telescopes to monitor a moon-orbiting satellite, sources with the project 
announced on Friday. 
 The project aimed to test the joint function and ability of the radio 
telescopes, which would monitor China's first moon-probe program scheduled for 
launch in 2007, sources with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said. 
 The moon satellite detected and tracked by the super telescope belongs to 
European Space Agency (ESA). 
 The monitoring project had done successfully and it proved that China was 
able to detect and track moon-orbiting satellites, according to Li Yan, director 
of the CAS Yunnan Observatory. 
 The telescopes set up in Beijing, Shanghai, the southwestern Yunnan Province, 
and the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are 2,000 to 3,000 
kilometers apart from each other. |