The Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 2, 2013. It will be the first time for China to send a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where it will conduct surveys on the moon. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
The Long March-3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 1:30am today.
It will be the first time China has sent a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where the rover will survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances while looking for natural resources.
Chang'e-3 comprises a lander and a moon rover called Yutu, or Jade Rabbit. The lunar probe should land on the moon in mid- December.
