A leading Chinese lunar scientist said on Friday that the Chinese lunar exploration program would focus on four major tasks.

Chinese scientists were scheduled to sketch a three-dimensional lunar map, and analyze 14 mineral elements, including titanium and helium, said Ouyang Ziyuan.

The other two tasks were to measure the temperature of the lunar surface by microwave radiation technology, and probe the space environment between the Earth and the Moon, he told the 36th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

China's space agency plans to launch its first lunar orbiter Chang'e I in 2007. In 2010, it will launch an unmanned spacecraft for a soft landing on the Moon.

Source: Xinhua