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Ranger IV took off on 23 April from Cape Canaveral

England have

The American moon rocket Ranger IV has landed on the far side of the moon but has failed to send back pictures due to a technical fault.

It is the first time an American spacecraft has successfully reached the moon - the Russians achieved the first ever lunar impact in 1959.

However, the main aim of the mission - to take television pictures of the lunar surface - was not achieved after all internal power on board the spacecraft failed two hours after launch.

The Ranger IV Atlas-Agena rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral on 23 April, is one of the most sophisticated space machines ever developed.

Crash-land

It was specifically designed to crash-land on the moon after capturing a series of images of the lunar surface on its approach.

The television pictures on board were designed to begin operating when the rocket came within 2,500 miles (4,023km) of the lunar surface - 40 minutes before impact - and then send an image of the moon back to Earth every 13 seconds.

After the loss of internal power the spacecraft could only be tracked using the tiny radio transmitter in the lunar capsule. This is how scientists confirmed it had actually reached the moon.

The latest mission was identical to that of Ranger III, which launched on 26 January this year.

But the expected pictures from that mission were not produced because the rocket missed the moon by 22,862 miles (36,793km).

Nasa scientists will be hugely disappointed by this latest failure as a successful mission would have given them the first ever close-up images of the mysterious lunar surface.

Ranger IV was also equipped with aseismometerand radio transmitter, designed to be released in a small capsule from the rocket before impact and land on the moon in sufficiently good condition to measure the frequency of natural earthquakes in the body of the moon.

Images from this would have been sent back to Earth for up to 30 days for vital research.

Chancellor Norman Lamont: "reward" for government policies

The government has reacted with relief to news that Britain's economy grew by 0.2% in the first three months of this year, and declared the longest recession since the 1930s officially over.

The figures, from the Central Statistical Office, show a 0.2% rise in gross domestic product (GDP), and a 0.6% increase in activity in the onshore economy, excluding oil and gas production.

It's the first sign of growth in the economy for over two years. The recession has been longer, but less severe, than the last one in the 1980s. Output has fallen by 3.9%, compared with a 5.5% fall last time.

The economy is recovering across a broad front

Chancellor Norman Lamont

Prime Minister John Major called on industry to make the most of the "unparalleled opportunities" offered by the combination of low inflation and interest rates, and a competitive exchange rate.

The Chancellor, Norman Lamont, was also upbeat, saying the figures were "the best evidence so far that the economy is recovering across a broad front."

In a BBC interview, Mr Lamont said Britain was starting to see the reward of policies that the government had been pursuing during the past few years.

The Institute of Directors, though, disagreed with the Chancellor on the reasons for the upturn. Their latest survey said improved performance was due to Britain's departure from the European exchange-rate mechanism (ERM), a policy decision forced on the government.

Black Wednesday

The pound was driven out of the ERM last September by frantic currency speculation, on what became known as Black Wednesday.

In a catastrophic day for the government's policy on Europe and the economy, Mr Lamont was forced to spend billions in an attempt to prop up the pound, which failed as it dropped below its minimum level in the ERM.

He had no choice but to devalue and pull out of the ERM.

The Shadow Chancellor, Gordon Brown, greeted the figures cautiously, saying he hoped the recession was over, but warning that skills shortages and an investment gap with the UK's competitors could stymie future growth.

 

seismometer:地震檢波器

upturn:an upward movement or trend in business activity（上升，好轉）