Beijing: China today launched its maiden lunar probe in the first step towards its ambitious three-stage moon mission, from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre of Southwestern Sichuan province.
The lunar orbiter Chang e-1 blasted off on board a Long March 3A carrier rocket at 6:05 pm (local time), as it began its journey to explore and map the moon's surface. Chang e-1, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, is expected to enter the earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on November 5.
Chinese space experts joined by their counterparts from Japan, Germany and other countries watched the launch, telecast live.
