Chang'e-2 enters lunar orbit
Posted: Thu, Oct 7, 2010, 6:36 AM ET (1036 GMT)
China's second lunar orbiter entered orbit around the Moon on Wednesday, five days after launch. The Chang'e-2 spacecraft fired its engines Wednesday for approximately half an hour, placing the spacecraft into an elliptical 12-hour orbit around the Moon. Two more thruster firings are planned to lower the spacecraft into a circular 100-kilometer orbit around the Moon. China launched Chang-e'2 on Friday, placing the spacecraft on a translator trajectory that brought the spacecraft to the Moon in five days. The orbiter, following up on the Chang'e-1 mission launched in 2007, will operate at a lower orbit than its predecessor and provide higher resolution images and other data. China plans to follow up this mission with its first lunar lander in about 2013.
China's second lunar orbiter entered orbit around the Moon on Wednesday, five days after launch. The Chang'e-2 spacecraft fired its engines Wednesday for approximately half an hour, placing the spacecraft into an elliptical 12-hour orbit around the Moon. Two more thruster firings are planned to lower the spacecraft into a circular 100-kilometer orbit around the Moon. China launched Chang-e'2 on Friday, placing the spacecraft on a translator trajectory that brought the spacecraft to the Moon in five days. The orbiter, following up on the Chang'e-1 mission launched in 2007, will operate at a lower orbit than its predecessor and provide higher resolution images and other data. China plans to follow up this mission with its first lunar lander in about 2013.| <<previous article | next article>> |
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