In March of 2013, a presentation was made on China's future in space to the People's Congress and the Communist Central Committee. The presentation included an optimistic plan for a permanent space station and exploration beyond the Earth.
The successful landing of the Jade Rabbit lunar rover on the Moon by China was the last mission of Phase II of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program also known as the Chang'e program after a Chinese lunar goddess. There have been some technical problems with temperature changes and communications but the rover has been able to carry out some parts of its mission.
The first phase of the Chinese Lunar Explorations Program (A.K.A. the Chang'e program) consisted of two lunar orbiters, the Chang'e 1 and 2. These two orbiter were launched in 2007 and 2010. They generated highly detailed maps of the lunar surface in order to assist in the selection of a landing site for phase two.
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (A.K.A. the Chang'e program) is a Chinese space program that has utilized and will utilize lunar orbiters, lunar landers, lunar rovers and lunar sample returners to explore the Moon. Chang'e is a Chinese lunar goddess. Ouyang Ziyuan is the chief scientist of the program. He is one of the first Chinese scientists to advocate exploitation of lunar helium-3 for future nuclear fusion reactors.
