第二课 中秋之夜 教学辅助材料(2): 嫦娥三号

Chang’e 3 (pronunciation:/tʃæŋˈər/; simplified Chinese: 嫦娥三号; pinyin: Cháng’é sān hào) is an unmannedlunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), incorporating a robotic lander and China’s first lunar rover. It was launched in December 2013 as part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.^[4][5][6]

The spacecraft was named after Chang’e, 嫦娥, the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology, and is a follow-up to the Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 lunar orbiters. The rover was named Yutu (Chinese: 玉兔; literally: “Jade Rabbit“) following an online poll, after the mythological rabbit that lives on the Moon as a pet of the Moon goddess.^[7]

Chang’e 3 achieved lunar orbit on 6 December 2013^[8] and landed on 14 December 2013,^[9] becoming the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union‘s Luna 24 in 1976.^[10]