BEIJING, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- China has completed research and development on its first lunar satellite, scheduled for launch in 2006.
Research began in July with the first general test on Dec. 15, The People's Daily reported Thursday.
The major task of the lunar satellite will be to obtain three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, analyze the content of useful elements and materials on the surface, probe the depth of the lunar soil and investigate the space environment between the earth and the moon.
At the Center for Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where testing was conducted, Sun Huixian, general director of the application system of China's moon probing program, displayed two sensors, one for gamma rays and the other for X-rays to analyze the moon's surface.
The apparatus consists 24 devices, including a special camera for 3-D images of the moon's surface and other equipment to obtain lunar spectrum and probe solar high-energy particles and solar wind ions.
