China’s Chang’e Project: Dedication to Lunar Research Yields Success

China’s Chang’e project has been leading the way in lunar exploration since 2004, with all five missions proving successful in obtaining new information about the Moon. The information obtained from Chang’e missions has given humans a much deeper understanding of the Moon, including the composition of its surface material, the Moon’s history and evolution, and mastering the three phases of unmanned lunar exploration: orbiting, landing, and returning. A review article on China’s lunar exploration was published in Science China on April 28. With all five missions being a success, China has made a dent in what used to be “unknown” about the Moon. The first Chang’e mission uncovered some basic knowledge of the Moon’s specifications to make unmanned travel doable: successful orbiting of the Moon, landing, and returning is the first step in being able to get into the nitty-gritty of lunar exploration. With this first step being a success, Chang’e’s second mission was underway. This mission obtained information about the composition of lunar materials and a 3D image of the Moon’s topography.