中國人熱盼“嫦娥奔月”

More than two thirds of the nation want to see the launch of Chang’e I, China’s first lunar orbiter live on TV, according to a survey.

More than two thirds of the nation want to see the launch of Chang’e I, China’s firstlunar orbiter live on TV, according to a survey.

According to the survey by China Youth Daily and , almost the entire nation wants to catch images of the event at some point, with 99 percent of the 10,358 respondents saying they expected to witness the satellite launch and 68.9 percent said they were certain to watch the live broadcast of the launch.

On and , two popular web portals in the country, internet users have contributed some 2,000 poems and 5000 drawings on the theme of Chang'e I.

"The satellite launch means much more than just saying 'hello' to the moon. Maybe in the future we could also send some people to accompany sister 'Chang'e'," said a college student in the survey.

Remarkably, many people expect to visit the moon one day, with 93.4 percent of respondents saying they expected to do so.

Chang'e I is named after Chang'e, a famous character from Chinese mythology. She ascended from earth to live on the moon as a celestial being after drinking an elixir.

The satellite will be launched between Wednesday and Friday, with 6 pm today being the best choice, a spokesman for the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on Monday. Preparations are almost complete for the launch of the country's first lunar orbiter, according to a spokesman for the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

一項調查顯示，超過三分之二的中國人表示會收看我國首個月球探測器——“嫦娥一號”衛星發射的電視直播實況。

據該項由中國青年報和騰訊網聯合開展的調查，幾乎所有的中國人都想觀看“嫦娥一號”的發射盛況。在10358名受訪者中，99%的人稱希望親眼見證“嫦娥奔月”，68.9%的人說他們一定會收看電視直播。

截至目前，騰訊網和新浪網兩大門戶網站共收集網友創作的有關“嫦娥一號”的詩作約2000篇，畫作約5000幅。

一名大學生說：“這次探月行動不僅僅是到月球串個門，和嫦娥姐姐打個招呼這麼簡單。說不定以後還能派幾個人給嫦娥姐姐時不常地做個伴。”

調查發現，很多人（93.4%的受訪者）希望有朝一日能到月球上看看。

“嫦娥一號”衛星得名於中國神話傳說中家喻戶曉的人物“嫦娥”。她吃下長生不老藥後化作仙女，從地球升到了月球上。

國家航天局的一位發言人於本週一公佈，“嫦娥一號”將於本週三至週五擇機發射，今天下午六時是最佳發射時機。西昌衛星發射中心的一位發言人稱，發射前的所有準備工作已基本完成。

lunar orbiter:月球探測器