China, Japan Race to the Moon

From NASA, an artist's rendering of China's
Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter.

China and Japan have both nicknamed their lunar missions after the moon goddesses in their respective mythologies. In China, the lady in the moon is called Chang'e; in Japan, Kaguya.

With the tension befitting a rivalry between such legendary beauties, the race to the moon kicked into high gear with the September 14 launch of Japan's first lunar probe satellite, officially known as the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE).

Chinese media have provided extensive coverage of the Kaguya expedition, including field reports from Tanegashima, the remote island location of Japan's largest space center. Feature stories have examined Kaguya's scientific objectives and detailed how the world's largest lunar mission since the U.S. Apollo flights had fallen four years behind schedule. The precise timing of the launch is seen, invariably, as a challenge by Japan to her Chinese rival.

Two days after Kaguya blasted into space, Sun Laiyan, vice minister of China's Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND), announced that China's lunar orbiter, the Chang'e-1, had been positioned at the launch site and was slated to go into space by the end of the year.

Sun's statement contained little new information. Beijing had indicated as early as 2005 that China's first unmanned satellite to the moon was set for a launch in 2007, and Chinese media had reported this past March that the launch of Chang'e-1, originally scheduled for April, was to be postponed to the second half of this year. Also in March, Xinhua reported that the launch might take place in September. That remains to be seen, although there are indications that the launch may be imminent.

China Central Television announced on September 18 that production was nearing completion on a seven-part extravaganza titled "Optimum Challenge: Rushing towards Chang'e" that is scheduled to begin airing on October 1, China's National Day.

On September 19, Jiang Mianheng, eldest son of former president Jiang Zemin and the normally low-profile vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, announced at a "mobilization meeting" for Chang'e-1 team members that the satellite's VLBI orbit tracking system had entered its final phase of development.

This was followed by reports that the general public, including Hong Kong residents, would soon be able to purchase tickets, through a travel agency, to view the launch of Chang'e-1 from a hillside facing the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, located in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Tickets for the event, projected to last 16 seconds, are going for $800 yuan (US$106.67) apiece.