Beijing held a grand ceremony at the Great Hall of the People
Wednesday morning to celebrate the success of the first stage of
China's lunar probe program.
President Hu Jintao is to deliver a speech at the
assembly.
Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee
of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, presided
over the meeting.
Chang'e-1, named after a mythical Chinese
goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon, blasted off on
a Long March 3A carrier rocket on Oct. 24 from the Xichang
Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of
Sichuan.
The satellite traveled nearly two million kilometers in its
15-day flight to the moon and reached its final working orbit with
a fixed altitude of 200 kilometers on Nov. 7.
The China National Space Administration released the first
picture of the moon captured by Chang'e-1 on Nov. 26, marking the
full success of the first stage of the country's lunar probe
program.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2007)
