<p>The photos, made public by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao Monday, highlighted part of the moon's Sinus Iridium, or Bay of Rainbows, the area proposed for China's first unmanned soft-landing around 2013, China Daily reported Tuesday.<br /><br />"The relaying back of the pictures shows that the Chang'e-2 mission is a success," said Zhang Jiahao, director of the lunar exploration centre under the China National Space Administration.<br /><br />One of the pictures, taken Oct 28 from 18.7 km above the lunar surface, shows an eight-km wide, 15.9-km-long area of the Bay of Rainbows.<br /><br />It shows the surface is "quite flat" with craters and rocks of different sizes and a large hole with a two-kilometre diameter, a statement by the administration said.<br />The bay was formed by a massive impact billions of years ago, and is considered one of the moon's most beautiful landmarks, the daily said.<br /><br />But the bay is only one of the proposed spots for the unmanned landing attempt, as Chang'e-2 has also taken images of other possible landing areas, said Yan Jun, chief scientist of China's lunar exploration project.<br /><br />"The exact spot for a soft-landing has not been decided yet," he said.<br /><br />The Chang'e-2 probe was launched Oct 1 and went into orbit eight days later. It first circled the moon at a distance of 100 km, and then dropped into orbit about 15 km above the lunar surface. After taking the images it will return to a 100-km orbit to conduct a study of the lunar surface.<br /><br />The probe was designed to test technology for Chang'e-3, which will land on the lunar surface and release a moon rover around 2013.<br /><br />The lunar pictures have a resolution of up to 1.3 metres, much clearer than images taken by its predecessor Chang'e-1, with a resolution of 120 metres.<br /><br />"With such a high resolution, it means that from the pictures you can tell a pit of 4 metres in diameter on the moon or a rock with a diameter of 3 metres," Yan said.<br /><br />In the next five months, Chang'e-2 will continue taking pictures of the moon and conduct scientific experiments to refine the findings recorded by Chang'e-1, a senior official said.<br /><br />China's first lunar probe, launched in October 2007, ended its mission by crashing into the moon after orbiting for 16 months. Among other achievements, it acquired a three-dimensional map of the moon's surface.<br /><br />China has a three-stage lunar exploration programme, with both Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 part of the second stage leading to an unmanned moon landing.<br />The third stage aims to bring a moon rock sample back to Earth in 2017.</p>
<p>The photos, made public by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao Monday, highlighted part of the moon's Sinus Iridium, or Bay of Rainbows, the area proposed for China's first unmanned soft-landing around 2013, China Daily reported Tuesday.<br /><br />"The relaying back of the pictures shows that the Chang'e-2 mission is a success," said Zhang Jiahao, director of the lunar exploration centre under the China National Space Administration.<br /><br />One of the pictures, taken Oct 28 from 18.7 km above the lunar surface, shows an eight-km wide, 15.9-km-long area of the Bay of Rainbows.<br /><br />It shows the surface is "quite flat" with craters and rocks of different sizes and a large hole with a two-kilometre diameter, a statement by the administration said.<br />The bay was formed by a massive impact billions of years ago, and is considered one of the moon's most beautiful landmarks, the daily said.<br /><br />But the bay is only one of the proposed spots for the unmanned landing attempt, as Chang'e-2 has also taken images of other possible landing areas, said Yan Jun, chief scientist of China's lunar exploration project.<br /><br />"The exact spot for a soft-landing has not been decided yet," he said.<br /><br />The Chang'e-2 probe was launched Oct 1 and went into orbit eight days later. It first circled the moon at a distance of 100 km, and then dropped into orbit about 15 km above the lunar surface. After taking the images it will return to a 100-km orbit to conduct a study of the lunar surface.<br /><br />The probe was designed to test technology for Chang'e-3, which will land on the lunar surface and release a moon rover around 2013.<br /><br />The lunar pictures have a resolution of up to 1.3 metres, much clearer than images taken by its predecessor Chang'e-1, with a resolution of 120 metres.<br /><br />"With such a high resolution, it means that from the pictures you can tell a pit of 4 metres in diameter on the moon or a rock with a diameter of 3 metres," Yan said.<br /><br />In the next five months, Chang'e-2 will continue taking pictures of the moon and conduct scientific experiments to refine the findings recorded by Chang'e-1, a senior official said.<br /><br />China's first lunar probe, launched in October 2007, ended its mission by crashing into the moon after orbiting for 16 months. Among other achievements, it acquired a three-dimensional map of the moon's surface.<br /><br />China has a three-stage lunar exploration programme, with both Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 part of the second stage leading to an unmanned moon landing.<br />The third stage aims to bring a moon rock sample back to Earth in 2017.</p>