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The graphics shows the Developing and
launching chang'e I lunar probe:first step of Chinese Lunar Exploration
Program. (Xinhua Graphics)
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BEIJING,
Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Experts said Tuesday though China's Long March 3A has
completed 14 successful launches in a row, there are three major factors that
may affect its coming task to launch the nation's first lunar orbiter.
The factors include operating errors by staff on the
launch site, unfavorable weather and the quality of the rocket itself.
According to the experts, weather may delay the
launch and the rocket will not be able to take off if there is thunder, heavy
rain or high winds.
Jin Zhiqiang, deputy command-in-chief of the rocket
system of China's lunar probe program, said harsh weather could cause short
circuits in electronic components in the rocket. Meanwhile, if tubes and valves
of the Long March 3A, which is a low-temperature rocket, are frozen, and are not
defrosted in time, launch could be delayed so much that they might miss their
favourable launch window.
Earlier media reports said China was planning to
launch its first moon orbiter at around 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 from the Xichang
Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China's Sichuan Province.
The lunar satellite has been named Chang'e I after
the legendary Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon.
"The satellite will be launched between Oct. 24 and
26 and our first choice is around 6 p.m. on Oct. 24,"a spokesman for the China
National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
"What is worrying me most is the possibility that
there is still something we haven't thought of," said Ye Peijian, chief designer
and command-in-chief of the satellite system of China's lunar probe program.
"We've exerted 200 percent efforts to ensure a 100
percent success," Ye added.
"We've envisaged 84 possible failures in the rocket
and satellite, and we've solved them during our drills," Ye said.
"But if there is something that we did not think of,
there will be trouble," he added.
The lunar probe is expected to enter earth-moon
transfer orbit on Oct. 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on Nov. 5.
The satellite will relay the first pictures of the
moon in late November and will then continue scientific explorations of the moon
for a year.
The orbiter will carry out a series of projects
including acquiring 3-D images and analyzing the distribution of elements on the
moon's surface, according to the spokesman.
"Experts from foreign space administrations have been
invited to watch the launch on site," said the CNSA spokesman.
"China welcomes international cooperation in space
activities," he said.
China hopes to become the 17th nation to join the
International Space Station (ISS) project, Vice Minister of Science and
Technology Li Xueyong said on the sidelines of the 17th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China last week.
The Chinese government has been pursuing a policy of
peaceful use of airspace, Li said.
The satellite launch will mark the first step of
China's three-stage moon mission, which will lead to a moon landing and launch
of a moon rover around 2012. In the third phase, another rover will land on the
moon and return to earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific
research around 2017.
China carried out its maiden piloted space flight in
October 2003, making it only the third country in the world after the former
Soviet Union and the United States to have sent men into space. In October 2005,
China completed its second manned space flight, with two astronauts on board.
