Chinese Orbiter Reaches Moon Today

China's first lunar orbiter, which was discussed in Robert's post from last week, reached the moon today and has entered the moon's orbit successfully. The mission has four primary objectives, according to the linked article:

1.) Take a 3D survey of the moon
2.) Examine the "abundance and distribution" of the moon's resources and elements
3.) Study the "regolith" - essentially the dusty, powdery rock and "soil"
4.) Study the "circumstance between the Earth and the moon" - whatever that means....

There has been a lot of chatter of a "space race" and possible fierce competition between Japan, India, and China because of the explosion in the number of moon-exploring missions that have sprung up over the last year among the countries. It is comforting to see that China has now made it clear that their space agency is not interested in aggressive competition, but explicitly supports international cooperation and sharing of knowledge that comes about from space exploration. China's chief commander of the current lunar mission, Luan Enjie, was quoted in the article as saying that "China will not be involved in moon race with any other country and in any form. China will, in pursuing its policy of peaceful use of airspace, share the achievements of the lunar exploration with the whole world". While important for lunar missions, this will probably be even more important as the possibilities of manned Mars missions become more realistic. The scientific breakthroughs and economic costs will be tremendous and international cooperation will be essential.