"'Chang'e"', is one of the most talked about names among the Chinese, this is not only because it is the name of a beautiful angel in ancient Chinese legend, who is living in the moon, but more importantly, it has become a code name of the moon- probing project now under way in China.

Ouyang Ziyuan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist involved in China's moon-probing project, who is now attending the 2004 academic annual meeting held by the Chinese Association of Science and Technology in Bo'ao, Hainan Province, proudly declared to the press: "Currently, China has set up a complete aerospace engineering system, it is fully capable of launching the ��Chang'e' moon-probing project."

"Going to clasp the moon in the Ninth Heaven" has always been a lingering dream in China's centuries-old traditional culture. In 2007, the lifting-off of the "Chang'e I" lunar probing satellite designed and made by the Chinese themselves will really draw the Chinese closer to the moon.

Ouyang Ziyuan disclosed that China plans to first fulfill the unmanned lunar probing program in three stages within 13 years, as part of China's lunar probing project. After basically fulfilling the unmanned lunar probing program, China will, in light of the then international lunar probing development and China's own national strength, further set a manned lunar probing strategic goal, choose an opportune time to launch manned lunar exploration as well as jointly build lunar bases with relevant countries. A successful launch of lunar exploration will become the third landmark following China's launch of artificial earth satellite and manned spacecraft.

The United States and the former Soviet Union set off the first lunar probing upsurge in 1959, in July 1969, US "Apollol 11" fulfilled the dream of the human Moon-land Project, thereafter, the former Soviet Union conducted several unmanned lunar samplings. In 1986, the American aerospace bureau began to design a plan for returning to the moon and announced such a project, countries like Britain, Germany and Brazil also drew up lunar probing plans one after another, thus setting off the second lunar probing upsurge.

From the launch of the previous atom bomb and hydrogen bomb and artificial earth satellite to today's manned aircraft project, China's aerospace industry has scored remarkable achievements. On October 15, 2003, Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, soared to the sky by the "Shenzhou V" manned spaceship, and successfully returned to earth the next morning after flying round the earth for 14 circles. This event greatly inspired Chinese people, Chinese scientists have scaled to new height in the world space field with their own wisdom and effort. In 2004, China sets to motion the "first phased project of the lunar prbing plan", i.e., the "Chang'e I" moon exploration project.

According to Ouyang Ziyuan, currently China is fully capable of receiving, handling and interpreting lunar probing data. Dong Fang Hong-3, or (DFH-3), can serve as a lunar-probing satellite platform, various subsystems also basically employ the mature technology for other satellites. The Changzheng-3A, or (CZ-3A), carrier rocket can fulfill the task of launching lunar probing satellite. China's existing S frequency channel space instrumentation and command network, under the coordination of the very long basic interference (VLBI) astronomical surveying network, can fulfill the first-phase lunar probing observation and control task

According to Academician Liu Zhenxing, chief scientist with China's double-star probing program, besides stepping up implementation of the lunar-probing plan, China also actively carries out forward-looking research work in a broader space area. In recent years, China has held a niche in the solar-terrestrial probing field through implementation of the double-star probing program; Chinese scientists are actively engaged in the research and development of solar telescope; the State Natural Science Foundation also supports the feasibility study on the "braggadocio plan"��studying solar "disturbance" and commotion through inserting two probing satellites between the sun and the earth. Chinese scientists are actively meditating on implementation of a "space storm plan", this means further studying the relations between the sun and the earth and raising the space weather forecasting level through "putting" three exploratory satellites in different "positions" between the sun and the earth.

Academician Li Tibei, professor with Tsinghua University and executive director of the China Space Science Society, said China's space technological development is on the front line of the world, Chinese scientists should rely on the progress of space technology to engage in independent innovation, follow their own road and create original things that have never been done by others.

Despite the present achievements, Chinese scientists remain sober-minded. Ouyang Ziyuan said figuratively, "China's late-started lunar-probing plan, now like a child, cannot develop to an advanced world level in a short while." He firmly believes that China's lunar-probing plan, though started late, can catch up at a high starting-point, and ensure that China will have a niche in international lunar-probing activities.

Carried on page 2 of the Overseas Edition of People's Daily November 26, 2004, this article by Wang Yingcheng and Zhan Yan is translated by People's Daily Online