Manned Missions Also Planned
Move over NASA, you've got competition in the Lunar exploration
program. China announced that it plans to launch its first moon
rover in 2012 as part of its new ambitious space exploration
program. While void of any Neil Armstrong wannabes, the
spacecraft's main purpose will be to provide information on finding
a suitable location to set up a moonbase, the Beijing Youth Daily
newspaper said Sunday, citing Ouyang Ziyuan, lead scientist of the
country's lunar probe program.