Called A Thousand-Year Dream

China shared the first image of the moon from its Chang-e 1 lunar probe Monday, starting the mission’s efforts to document the lunar landscape.

The image was unveiled at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, reports The Associated Press.

Premier Wen Jiabao called the image a first step toward "the Chinese race's 1,000-year-old dream" of exploring the moon.

The Chinese probe's object is to explore entire surface of the moon at least once by early next year.

Both the Chinese and Japan have similar missions, triggering what some are calling an Asian Space Race. India also has similar plans and has a lunar launch in April 2008.

Officials in China, however, say their intentions are to use the program to work with other countries -- Chang'e was developed and launched with assistance from the European Space Agency -- and they hope to eventually join in building the International Space Station.

China became only the third country in the world after the United States and Russia to put a human in orbit in 2003, following that up with a two-man mission in 2005.

FMI: www.cnsa.gov.cn