China Launches 1st Lunar Probe

October 24, 2007 China Launches 1st Lunar Probe (AP)

In this photo released by China's official Xinhua news agency, China's first moon orbiter Chang'e 1 lifts off from the launch pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan province, on Wednesday October 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wang Jianmin)

(AP) -- China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday, an initial step in an ambitious 10-year plan to send a rover to the moon and return it to Earth.

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