China Intentionally Crashes Lunar Probe Into Moon

Chang'e 1 was an un-manned lunar orbiting spacecraft which was used in the first phase of the Chinese Lunar program. The spacecraft was named after a Chinese mythological figure, Chang'e, pronounced roughly as chang-uh. The probe was sent into space back in October of 2007 but the mission came to a crashing end by striking the moon's surface on Sunday, only 16 months after it was launched into space.

The Chinese space program said they intentionally steered the lunar satellite into the moon, ending the mission. They stated that they wanted to gather more information by doing this for their next spacecraft mission in 2012 and a manned moon mission in 2020.

The Chang'e 1 spacecraft carried 24 pieces of lunar probe equipment, including a CCD stereo camera, microprobe instruments and a high-energy sun particle detector. The spacecraft had a mass of 2,350 kg, with 130 kg of payload.

The next spacecraft will be the Tiangong 1 and will launch in 2010. "The module, named Tiangong I, is designed to provide a 'safe room' for Chinese astronauts to live and conduct scientific research in zero gravity" a report by the China's space program stated. "Weighing about 8.5 tons, Tiangong I will be an essential step toward building a space station."