Plans to send probe to the moon
( 2001-10-09 17:02 ) (7 )

China plans to send a probe to the moon, the official Xinhua News Agency said on October 9.

The probe will be launched on a Chinese-made Long March rocket, Xinhua said, quoting a report by Chinese National Space Administration chief Luan Enjie at a recent conference. It did not say whether firm plans had been drawn up or give other details.

China's space program regularly launches satellites, and has set a goal of a manned launch by the end of this decade. However, few details are available of new developments in the military-linked program.

Lunar exploration allows the mainland to ''struggle for a more important place in the world space science field and raise our deep space exploration technology to a higher standard,'' Xinhua quoted Mr Luan saying.

Mr Luan said the lunar probe program was complemented by a recent agreement with the European Space Agency to jointly study the magnetosphere - the magnetic field that surrounds Earth.

The ''Double Star'' program calls for China to build, launch and operate a pair of satellites carrying European and Chinese experiments, according to Xinhua.

China's communist government has poured huge resources into making the nation a force in space.

In addition to its scientific benefits, lunar exploration has an ''immeasurable usefulness to raising national prestige and inspiring the nationalistic spirit,'' Xinhua said.