China’s lunar probe, Chang’e-1, has sent its first image back to earth:
During the celebration work staff at a hall in the BACC where the picture was unveiled, played greetings and music decoded from the data transmitted back to Earth via the satellite. “I come with greetings from China,” said a female voice that was programmed into the Chang’e-1 probe to salute the moon. The music broadcast included “The East is Red”, which was also played in 1970 by the country’s first man-made satellite, “Ode to the Motherland,” a tribute to the country’s power and prosperity, and some moon-themed songs, such as Chinese pop diva Faye Wong’s rendition of a famous Song Dynasty (960-1127) poem.
The program cost some $187 million–though apparently nobody thought to include a color camera.
