China publishes high-resolution full moon map China on Monday
published a full coverage map of the moon, as well as several
high-resolution images of the celestial body, captured by the
country's second moon orbiter, the Chang'e-2. The map and
images, released by the State Administration of Science,
Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), are the
highest-resolution photos of the entirety of the moon's surface
to be published thus far, said Liu Dongkui, deputy chief
commander of China's lunar probe project. The images were
photographed by a charge-coupled device (CCD) stereo camera on
the Chang'e-2 from heights of 100 km and 15 km over the lunar
surface between October 2010 and May 2011, according to a
statement from SASTIND. The resolution of the images obtained
from Chang'e-2 is 17 times greater than those taken by the its
predecessor, the Chang'e-1. If there were airports and harbors
on the moon, the Chang'e-1 could simply identify them, while the
Chang'e-2 would be able to detect planes or