Scientists and astronomy enthusiasts all over the country all
have access to data sent back from China's first lunar orbiter Chang'e-I, a
leading scientist in the program said on Sunday.
Ouyang Ziyuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS) and chief scientist of the lunar exploration program, said at
present that the scientific instruments on board the Chang'e-1 have
all gone into operation and the satellite is sending back 3
trillion bits of data per second. The total data volume will reach
28 T (1 T is equivalent to 1,000 G) next year.
"The money used for the Chang'e project comes from the taxpayers
and, therefore, the data should also be made public. Any scientist
or astronomy enthusiast can apply to the state in accordance with
state procedures to obtain data he needs," Ouyang said.
He also refuted rumors spread by some Chinese netizens that the
first image sent back by Chang'e-I "copied an image from the United
States".
"Because China and the United States took pictures of the same
region, it's natural that the two pictures look alike. But through
careful observation you will see there are some differences in
nuance," he said.
He further explained that scientists have already gained much
information from the first image. "We can see many craters on the
lunar surface, some are shaped like a bowl, some are circular
conical pits, and most of all, there are multi-looped pits. These
craters indicate that the moon has experienced different
disasters."
China published the first picture of the moon captured by
Chang'e-1 last Monday, marking success of the country's first lunar
probe project. The image showed a rough moon surface with scattered
round craters both big and small.
(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2007)
