Chang’e-1 represents the first step in the Chinese ambition to land robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020. Chang’e-1 has four mission goals to accomplish. The first is to make three-dimensional images of many lunar landforms and outline maps of major lunar geological structures. This mapping will include the first detailed images taken of some regions near the lunar poles.

Chang’e-1 is also designed to analyze the abundance of up to 14 chemical elements and their distribution across the lunar surface. Thirdly it will measure the depth of the lunar soil and lastly it will explore the space weather between the Earth and the Moon.

Artist's impression of SMART-1 . SMART-1 is Europe's first mission to the Moon. (Credit: ESA)

The spacecraft is large, weighing in at 2350 kg and it will operate from a low, circular lunar orbit, just 200 km above the surface of the Moon. From here, it will perform its science mission for a full year.

ESA is collaborating with the Chinese on this mission by providing spacecraft and ground operations support services to CNSA. The two agencies will also share data and encourage a visitors’ programme so that researchers can learn from each other.

During ESA’s SMART-1 mission, the Agency provided the Chinese with details of the spacecraft's position and transmission frequencies, so that the Chinese could test their tracking stations and ground operations by following it. This was part of their preparation for Chang’e-1. Now it is time for Chang’e-1 itself to fly.

Hermann Opgenoorth, Head of ESA’s Solar System Missions Division says, “Participation in Chang’e-1 gives European scientists and ESA experts a welcome opportunity to maintain and pass on their expertise and to continue their scientific work. Based on the experience gained with this first mission, we intended to cooperate on the next missions in China's Chang’e line of lunar explorers.”

To perform its science mission, Chang’e-1 carries a variety of instruments: a CCD stereo camera, a laser altimeter, an imaging interferometer, a gamma-ray/X-ray spectrometer, a microwave radiometer, a high-energy particle detector, and a solar wind particle detector.

Named after the Chinese goddess of the Moon, Chang’e-1 represents the first phase in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme (CLEP). This programme is expected to last until around 2020 and the next phase will include a lander and associated rover. Looking farther into the future, plans are being drawn up for a sample return mission to bring lunar rocks to Earth for analysis.

"ESA's expertise in tracking Chang'e-1 sets the stage for future cooperation with China. The Agency's tracking station network, ESTRACK, is a resource that benefits not only the Agency but also all space science through such international cooperation," said Erik Soerensen, Head of the System Requirements and Validation Section at ESA's European Space Operations Centre.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by ESA.

Chang'e-1 has one unmentioned mission goal. To prove that the U.S. government has been lying to us about ancient, and modern lunar structures and UFO's ....at least we can only hope that thier scientists won't airbrush or doctor photos...perhaps we can solve these mysteries and put to rest years of debate over our space, and our closest planetary neighbor.
Personally i'd love to see a Japanese or Chinese photo of the American flag that Armstrong supposedly planted. Alas, we can only cross our fingers and hope...because if they were smart they would make public worldwide what NASA has been hiding for years.
Vasagoh

A few thoughts in response to:

China And ESA Launch Moon Mission -- Chang'e-1

The general perception is that while China (PRC) is happily engaged in trade with the west, they still maintain a healthy distance from the same when it comes to other policy. The question that begs to be asked is whether there is enough motivation for China to play by the west’s rules of secrecy and obfuscation when it comes to what may or may not be waiting on the moon’s surface.

If not for the sheer volume of evidence that NASA and the ESA are hiding some major lunar truth, the whole matter could be discarded but… there is that ever-growing body of evidence that simply cannot be dismissed.

+ Numerous instances of airbrushing lunar surface imagery.

+ Videos that depict unidentified objects in lunar orbit.

+ Videos and stills that depict unidentified objects moving across the lunar surface.

+ Radio exchanges between Apollo astronauts and NASA that could hold far more meaning than is being openly admitted to.

Upon arrival in lunar orbit, China becomes an immediate player in the game of secrets. If they hold them close and without revelation, they could be used as leverage to gain some as yet unrealized edge on both NASA and the ESA. However, if they were to explode the truth upon the world, they would become instant heroes and grab the high ground in the theater of trust and discovery. For a nation starved of any real global goodwill, it could be a windfall that would exceed even the best-case scenario from hosting the Olympics. It would instantly legitimize them as a major player in the world stage.

Another question has to be… how does NASA and the ESA prepare for what may be an outing of those secrets they have held so closely guarded, for so very long? Even if they have some covert assurance that the Chinese will not reveal what they find on the moon, they have to understand that the chance exists for betrayal. So, does the west move to open the dark vaults sometime here in the very near future or do they remain in a holding pattern, hoping that they won’t be exposed as liars?

And then there is Russia. There can be absolutely no doubt that the Russian Space Agency knows whatever we do. They too must realize that China’s space program stands on the brink of the same data and the same truths, whatever they may be. Russia is in a sweet spot to dictate who does what because they could pull the rug at any moment, sending NASA and the ESA into a reeling while stealing the chance for glory from the Chinese.

The wild cards here are Japan and India, both on the verge of joining this new space race. With Japan, there is a good argument that they might be under the thumb of NASA but with India?

The final possibility is that there is indeed something that is known and is being withheld for a very good reason. If there is an otherworldly presence that has been hitherto denied, it may be that it is, after all, really for our own good. Approaching this requires us to conceive of the possibility that what we don’t know is also what is keeping whatever it is at bay. Scenarios range from our race being the artificial property of another and that as the experiment, our rights of existence hinge solely on our ignorance to realizing we are lab rats. This or any similar scenario would almost certainly rule out a revelation by any Earthly space power. Our governments, while aware, are under the thumb of these unknown masters and understand the deadly ramifications of revelation.

As humans, we hold that we are divinely (or otherwise) bestowed with certain inalienable rights. One of those would be to expand our knowledge as the possibilities for discovery present themselves. Another might be that it is better to die than to live in bondage. If you expand the definition of being enslaved to include the darkness of ignorance, some of us might choose to see the truth even if it meant certain demise. But to be sure, there would be those who would differ and opt for the singular moment of life and not knowing.

The possibilities are endless but there is something very tangible in the air; Things are not as they seem. One cannot help but feel that something profound is coming and how we view our world and our lives upon it are on the verge of changing forever.
A reader