The k2p blog

From Space.com:

On Thursday, workers will begin fueling the Long March rocket that will blast the unmanned Chang’e-2 probe into space from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, Xinhua reported. Launch will occur “at an appropriate time” between Friday — China’s National Day, when the country marks 61 years of Communist rule — and Sunday (Oct. 3).

Chang'e-2 lunar probe

Chang’e-2 is the second step in China’s three-phase Chang’e moon exploration program, which is named after China’s mythical moon goddess. Chang’e-2 will test out technology and collect data on possible landing sites for the Chang’e-3 spacecraft, which is scheduled to land on the moon in 2013. According to the state news agency, Chang’e-2 should arrive at lunar orbit about five days after launch. It will eventually swoop down to an orbit just nine miles (15 km) above the lunar surface to take high-resolution pictures of landing areas for Chang’e-3. After snapping the photos, Chang’e-2 will retreat to an altitude of about 62 miles (100 km) to conduct a study of the lunar surface and dirt.

The Chang’e-1 probe  launched in October 2007 and conducted a 16-month moon observation mission, after which it crash-landed on the lunar surface by design, in March 2009.

 

Image via Wikipedia:Long March 3B Rocket launch

 

Tags: Chang'e 2, China, Long March, Moon

This entry was posted on September 30, 2010 at 9:38 pm and is filed under Astronomy, China, Engineering, Space, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.