The Chinese National Space Administration has successfully launched its Chang’e-3 lunar probe to the moon. If all goes well from here, it’ll be the first Chinese spacecraft to land on an extraterrestrial body — and the first rover to land on the moon in four decades.
The six-wheeled rover, called “Jade Rabbit” in English, is expected to start prowling the lunar surface in about two weeks. The probe blasted aboard a Long March 3B rocket from China’s Xichang spaceport at 12:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, or 1:30 a.m. Monday Beijing time.
The entire launch was captured by the state-run CCTV, showing incredible multi-camera shots of the booster jettison, spacecraft separation, thruster firings, and some dizzying views of Earth taken from cameras aboard the booster.
[Via CCTV]
