Special report: China launches first lunar
orbiter
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The circumlunar satellite Chang'e-1
blasted off on a Long March3A carrier rocket at 6:05 p.m., Oct.24 from the
No. 3 launching tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch Center of
southwestern Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
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BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar probe
Chang'e-1 completed its third orbital transfer on Monday afternoon, one more
step forward in its 1,580,000-km journey to the moon.
Instructions for the orbital transfer was issued by
the Yuanwang-3 space tracking ship in south Pacific at around 5:56 pm.
At around 6:01 pm, the probe was successfully
transferred to a 48-hour orbit with an apogee of 120,000 km, up from the former
70,000 km.
It will stay on the orbit until Oct. 31, when it is
expected to enter the earth-moon transfer orbit, a critical point that may
determine whether the satellite can fly to the moon successfully or not,
according to experts at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC).
Ultraviolet image sensors installed on the satellite
will begin to work to collect information on the earth and the moon after it
enters the 48-hour orbit, Wang Yejun, chief engineer with the BACC told Xinhua.
It's the first time that an ultraviolet image sensor
is put into actual use on a satellite, though a few countries had tested them on
the ground, Wang said.
The images Chang'e-1 collects will be transmitted
back to the earth when it enters the lunar orbit, Wang said.
Since Saturday, surveillance posts, on land and sea,
and four astronomical observatories have kept watching over Chang'e-1. According
to the data received so far, all systems of the satellite have been working
normally.
The lunar probe completed its first orbital change on
Oct. 25, in which it was transferred to a 16-hour orbit with a perigee of about
600 km from 200 km.
The probe completed its second orbital transfer on
Oct. 26, which made it move on a 24-hour orbit with an apogee of 70,000 km, up
from the former 50,000 km.
Chang'e-1, named after a mythical Chinese goddess
who, according to legend, flew to the moon, blasted off on a Long March3A
carrier rocket at 6:05 p.m. on Oct. 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center
in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The 2,300-kg satellite is expected to arrive in the
moon's orbit on Nov. 5. It carried eight probing facilities, including a stereo
camera and interferometer, an imager and gamma/x-ray spectrometer, a laser
altimeter, a microwave detector, a high energy solar particle detector and a low
energy ion detector.
It will fulfill four scientific objectives, including
a three-dimensional survey of the Moon's surface, analysis of the abundance and
distribution of elements on lunar surface, an investigation of the
characteristics of lunar regolith and the powdery soil layer on the surface, and
an exploration of the circumstance between the earth and the moon.
The satellite will relay the first picture of the
moon in late November and will then continue scientific explorations of the moon
for a year.
China's lunar orbiter project has cost 1.4 billion
yuan (187 million U.S. dollars) since research and development of the project
was approved at the beginning of 2004.
The launch of the orbiter marks the first step of
China's three-stage moon mission, which will lead to a moon landing and launch
of a moon rover at 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 at 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.
The launch of Chang'e-1 came shortly after Japan
launched its first lunar probe, Kaguya, in mid-September, while India is
planning to send its own lunar probe into space next April, sparking off
concerns of a space race in Asia.
But Luan Enjie, chief commander of China's lunar
orbiter project, said that "China will not be involved in moon race with any
other country and in any form."
"China will, in the principle of pursuing a policy of
peaceful use of airspace, share the achievements of the lunar exploration with
the whole world," he told Xinhua.
BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar
probe Chang'e-1 is expected to arrive at the apogee of more than 70,000
kilometers from the earth on early Saturday morning after having completed its
second orbital transfer on Friday, according to the moon probe team.
Chang'e-1, China's first moon orbiter, is now moving
on a 24-hour orbit and it is forecast to arrive at the apogee at around5:30 a.m.
on Saturday. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's first
lunar probe Chang'e-1 completed its first orbital transfer Thursday afternoon,
another key move in its 380,000-km journey to the moon.
The orbital transfer began at 5:55 p.m. and succeeded
after 130 seconds. The probe was transferred to an orbit with a perigee of about
600 km, up from the former 200-km perigee, according to the Beijing Aerospace
Control Center (BACC). Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists
have successfully activated the first probing equipment on the Chang'e-1 lunar
orbiter on Thursday evening to start exploring the space environment between
earth and moon. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- China has no plan
or timetable for a manned moon landing for now, senior Chinese lunar scientists
told Xinhua on Thursday, a day after the nation launched its first lunar probe,
Chang'e-1. Full story
BEIJING, Oct.24 (Xinhua) -- China successfully
launched its first circumlunar satellite Chang'e-1 on Wednesday, another step
towards its ambition to become a major power in the outer space. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China will not
embark on any lunar probe competition "in any form with any country" and will
"share the results of its moon exploration with the whole world" in its pursuit
of a policy of peaceful use of airspace, said a chief commander of the country's
first lunar satellite project. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's
first lunar probe Chang'e-1 has begun to use solar energy for power supply as
the solar panel of the orbiter was unfolded as planned, according to the control
center. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chang'er
Chang'e-1 is successfully separated from carrier rocket as planned, the control
center said. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China launched its
first lunar probe on Wednesday, first step into its ambitious three-stage moon
mission, marking a new milestone in the country's space exploration history. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's
milestone lunar orbiter project only costs 1 to 1.4 billion yuan (about 133 to
187million U.S. dollars), the same amount as the money used to construct 2 km of
subway in Beijing, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the lunar exploration
program. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's
first moon orbiter which is likely to be launched at around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday
from a southwest launch center, has been named after "moon lady" Chang'e, a
mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Testing operators
have started leaving the launching tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch Center,
where China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1 will blast off at around 6:00 p.m. on
Wednesday. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese
press and thousands of tourists have gathered at China's Xichang Satellite
Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province to witness the launch of the
nation's first moon orbiter, which is scheduled to take place at 6:05 p.m. on
Wednesday. Full story
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is
busy preparing for the launch of its first moon orbiter which is likely to take
place on Wednesday evening. The rocket is now on the launch pad and all staff
are in position at the site. Chinaview.cn will telecast live the launch of the
orbiter. Full story
