Chinese Lunar Probe Hits Moon

After mapping the Moon's surface for the past 16 months, the Chinese lunar satellite Chang'e 1 has been deliberately crashed onto the Moon's surface in what scientists are calling a controlled collision. Chang'e 1's mission was to map the entire surface of the Moon.

The Chinese government has announced plans to put a module into orbit and to have one of their space capsules dock with this module, called Tiangong-1, in preparations for a fully manned space station. In 2003 China became the third nation to put a manned vehicle into orbit around the Earth. They expect to launch the module sometime in 2010, and have tentative plans for a Moon mission in 2020. Amazing stuff.