One can't help reflecting on exploration history when Portugal and Spain were the early leaders, as were the US and USSR in space. CHINA SUCCESSFULLY SOFT-LANDS PROBE ON THE MOON

Many thanks are owed to our national rocketry secrets shared with China by the Clinton administration. m/r

CHINA SUCCESSFULLY SOFT-LANDS PROBE ON THE MOON

BY LOUISE WATT  12-14-13
News from The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) -- China on Saturday successfully carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades, state media said, the next stage in an ambitious space program that aims to eventually put a Chinese astronaut on the moon.

The unmanned Chang'e 3 lander, named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, touched down on Earth's nearest neighbor following a 12-minute landing process.

The probe carried a six-wheeled moon rover called "Yutu," or "Jade Rabbit," the goddess' pet. After landing Saturday evening on a fairly flat, Earth-facing part of the moon, the rover was slated to separate from the Chang'e eight hours later and embark on a three-month scientific exploration.

China's space program is an enormous source of pride for the country, the third to carry out a lunar soft landing - which does not damage the craft and the equipment it carries - after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The last one was by the Soviet Union in 1976.

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