Chang´e One arrives at new orbit

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Source: CCTV.com | 10-31-2007 08:59

China's first moon orbiter -- Chang'e One -- has just arrived at an apogee in a new orbit.

At five-forty p.m. local time, Chang'e One reached an apogee of more than 120,000 kilometers from the Earth. This is a new record for the furthest distance from the Earth reached by a Chinese spacecraft.

Li Haitao, Chief designer of Satellite & Luner Probe Engineering Systems, said, "The satellite systems in the observation stations and Beijing Aerospace Control Center are functioning normally. This lays good foundations for the further travel of Chang'e One."

The lunar probe will stay in its current orbit until Wednesday, when it is expected to enter the earth-moon transfer orbit. This is a critical point that may determine whether the satellite will reach the Moon or not.

At around half past eight Monday evening, the solar wind ion detector became operational. It is responsible for detecting the composition of low-energy ion and space environment conditions between 40,000 kilometers and 400,000 kilometers from Earth.

The ultraviolet image sensors installed on the orbiter also began working around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday to collect data about the Earth and the Moon. This is the first time that an ultraviolet image sensor has been put into actual use on a satellite.

All equipment will be shut down temporarily before the satellite reaches the critical point when it is expected to enter the earth-moon transfer orbit.

Editor:Zhang Ning