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Guiyang, China (XNA) Sep 06, 2010 China's second lunar probe, the Chang'e-2, will fly much faster than its predecessor and reach lunar orbit within a shorter period of time, a top Chinese space scientist told Xinhua here Friday. China is set to launch the Chang'e-2 lunar probe at the end of the year. The country launched its first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, named after China's mythical Moon Goddess, on Oct. 24, 2007, from southwest China's Sichuan Province. The probe ended its 16-month mission on March 1, 2009, when it crashed into the moon's surface. "It is estimated Chang'e-2 can reach lunar orbit within five days, compared to 13 days, 14 hours and 19 minutes for Chang'e-1," Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist at the China Lunar Exploration Project, told Xinhua. "China has not been to moon before the country launched Chang'e-1, so we were very prudent at that time and adjusted its orbit in a very slow manner. It flew a journey of 2.06 million km before reaching lunar orbit," he said. "But it's different now. We are more sure about the launch," he said. "We can send Chang'e-2 directly to the moon and we have also changed the orbit for it, so it can reach lunar orbit within five days." In addition, Chang'e 2 will orbit 100 km closer to the moon and carry a higher resolution camera, he added. According to China's three-phase moon exploration road map, the country will first launch the Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter. Then it will land Chang'e-3 on the moon in 2013. Then, in 2017, a moon rock sample will be returned to earth. Chang'e-2 will test key soft-landing technologies for the Chang'e-3 and provide high-resolution photographs of the landing area, the space authorities said. The country plans to launch its third unmanned probe to the moon, Chang'e-3, in 2013.
Source: Source: Xinhua
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China Finishes Construction Of First Unmanned Space ModuleBeijing, China (XNA) Aug 20, 2010 China has finished construction of its first unmanned space module, Tiangong-1, and it is testing the module's electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, a military source said here Tuesday. The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1 will be put into preset orbit in 2011, the source added. The space module is expected to carry out China's first space docking, with the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, which ... read more |
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