China's Lunar Probe Launched

China has taken a giant step in the race to be the first Asian nation to put a man on the moon. China has launches a lunar space probe named the Chang'e 1 from Xichang launch pad in south west China. Several thousand people were evacuated form a 2.5km radius of the launch site as a precaution.

Chang'e 1 is named after a mythical Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon.

The probe is intended to spend a year orbiting the moon with the first photographs due at the end of next month; Chang'e 1 will use stereo cameras and x-ray spectrometers to take 3-d images of the moons surface.

If the Mission is successful it will be the beginning of China's long tern 3 step plan of landing an unmanned lunar mission in 2012 and having their first man on the moon in 2020.

China is not the only Asian country striving to be the first Asian Nation to land a man on the moon, Japan took their first step by launching a lunar probe, nicknamed Kaguya after a moon princess in an ancient Japanese folktale, in Mid-September and India is planning to send their own lunar probe into space in April 2008.

China made its first piloted flight into space in October 2003, making China only the third country in World after the Soviet Union and the United States to have sent a man into space.

It is the ultimate aim for all countries in the space race to have a permanent Lunar Base. NASA plans to build a solar powered lunar base at one of the moon's poles and it is expected to be permanently manned by 2024. The establishment of a permanent lunar base would be the beginning of a new era in Leisure and Tourism with Private Accommodation, Luxury Hotels, and even Hostels on the moon. This is not as far fetched as it may sound, as the first space tourist Mr Dennis Tito a Californian based millionaire launched into space on April 28 2001. Space tourism is still in its infancy but many countries and private companies are striving to become the leader in Space Tourism and intergalactic travel.