PICS:China's first moon rover mission

China's deep-space exploration should go beyond the moon,and the country's scientists are actively preparing to implement plans to explore Mars, Venus and asteroids, said Ye Peijian, chief scientist of the Chang'e-3 programme. "Scientists are always prepared to conduct deep-space exploration and will do it after conditions permit," said Ye. India's Mars mission Mangalyan, which was launched this month, has evoked considerable interest in China as it enabled New Delhi to steal march over Beijing specially with a modest budget of USD 73 million.