China Lands Its First Unmanned Probe on the Moon

China Lands Its First Unmanned Probe on the Moon

Progress Comes as the U.S. Scales Back Its Space Ambitions

SHANGHAI—China on Saturday successfully landed its first unmanned lunar probe on the moon, in the latest milestone for the budding superpower's space ambitions.

The official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday that the Chang'e-3 lunar probe landed on the surface of the moon shortly after 9 p.m. Beijing time. The probe includes the lander and a lunar rover called Yutu, or "Jade Rabbit" in English.

The lunar probe Chang'e-3 spreading its wings Saturday. Zuma Press

China successfully landed its first unmanned space probe on the moon. The probe carried a moon rover called "Yutu," or "Jade Rabbit," that will embark on a three-month scientific exploration. Photo: CCTV VNR

State broadcaster CCTV provided minute-by-minute analysis of the space craft's descent. A live link to the country's space center showed staff anxiously watching monitors and shouting out commands. They clapped after it landed.

The mission is the latest big success for the Chinese space program. China's leaders have lavished praise on the space effort, with Chinese President Xi Jinping making high-profile appearances with program personnel. Mr. Xi and state-run media have invoked the space program in discussing what they call the China Dream, a vision for the nation's future that includes it rivaling the U.S. as a military and technological superpower.

Last year China completed its first manned space-docking mission, as the Shenzhou-9 capsule docked with China's Tiangong-1 space laboratory. The mission also included China's first female astronaut. China has set a goal for creating a space station that can house a crew for extended periods by 2020.

China's progress comes as the U.S. scales back its space ambitions. In 2012, U.S. outlays for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration fell 2.4% to $17.19 billion compared with the year before.

China doesn't disclose details of its spending on its space efforts. Unlike in the U.S., where civilian and military space programs are for the most part kept separate, China's space program is run by the People's Liberation Army.

U.S. defense officials and analysts have expressed concern about a lack of transparency and the potential for China's space program to contribute to the country's growing military capabilities.

"The space program, including ostensible civil projects, supports China's growing ability to deny or degrade the space assets of potential adversaries and enhances China's conventional military capabilities," said Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess Jr., director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, during U.S. Senate testimony last year.

But Chinese officials say China's space program is peaceful and that it is open to collaboration with other nations.

Xinhua quoted Sun Huixian, deputy engineer in chief in charge of the second phase of China's lunar program, as saying that the successful landing showed China has the ability to conduct "in-situ exploration on an extraterrestrial body."

"Compared to the last century's space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union, mankind's current return to the moon is more based on curiosity and exploration of the unknown universe," Xinhua cited Mr. Sun as saying.

"China's lunar program is an important component of mankind's activities to explore peaceful use of space," the state news agency quoted the engineer-in-chief as saying.

The moon rover Yutu will separate from the lander early on Sunday, according to Xinhua.

China isn't the only Asian nation moving forward on exploring space while the U.S. ratchets back. Last month India launched a probe aimed at exploring Mars.

The spacecraft hovered 100 meters to assess a final place to land using its sensors, according to Xinhua. It then hovered again at 30 meters to avoid obstacles and prepare for landing, the news agency said.

The probe was launched Dec. 2. The Chang'e missions are named after a moon princess in Chinese mythology. The rover, Yutu, is named after her rabbit companion.