Special report: China launches first lunar orbiter
BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's first lunar
probe, Chang'e-1, will perform its second braking at about 11 a.m. on Nov. 6,
according to a spokesman with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on
Monday afternoon.
The second braking will slow down the probe's speed
to 1.8 km per second to help it enter a 3.5-hour orbit with a perilune of 200 km
and an apolune of 1,700 km, Pei Zhaoyu, the spokesman, told a press conference
here.
The probe is expected to brake for the third time at
around 8 a.m. on Nov. 7, which will further slow down its speed to 1.59 km per
second to make it enter a 127-minute round polar circular orbit, which is also
its final destination where Chang'e is supposed to start "working" formally, Pei
said.
Chang'e-1 will then stay a year in the round orbit,
which is 200 km from the moon's surface, for scientific explorations.
Chang'e-1 completed its first braking, which slowed down its speed to 1.948 km per second, and entered the moon's orbit at around 11:37 a.m. on Monday.
The probe is now traveling along a 12-hour elliptical moon orbit, with a perilune of about 210 km and an apolune of about 8,600 km.