Special report: China launches first lunar orbiter
BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's first moon orbiter Chang'e-1 is expected to arrive at an apogee of more than 120,000km on a new orbit around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, setting a new record in apogee at which a Chinese aircraft has reached.
"The previous record holder is the satellite Tance-1, or Exploration-1, which was launched in 2003 with its apogee of nearly 80,000 km," said Tang Ge, head of orbit monitoring and controlling office of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC).
The ultraviolet image sensors installed on the orbiter began working around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday to collect information on the earth and the moon.
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, said Wang Yejun, chief engineer with the BACC.
China successfully launched the Chang'e-1, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon, on Oct. 24.
The lunar probe was successfully transferred to a 48-hour orbit with an apogee of 120,000 km, up from the former 70,000 km, at 6:01 p.m. on Monday.
It will stay on the orbit until Wednesday, 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 with the BACC.
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. Full story
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
