Wen hails satellite's first photo of the moon
27 November 2007
The first photo of the moon taken by China's Chang'e I satellite was unveiled by Premier Wen Jiabao at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Monday, AFP reported. Wen said the image was evidence of the country's emergence as a space and technological power. The black-and-white image, taken by Chang'e I about a month after its launch in October, showed a section of the moon's surface about 460 kilometers in length and 280km in width. It was pieced together from 19 individual shots. Meanwhile, Sun Laiyan, who heads the China National Space Administration, said on Monday that there was no plan to put a man on the moon by 2020. Numerous Chinese space officials have said they want to a man to walk on the moon by this date.