Chang’e I Blasts off

 

The nation’s first moon orbiter blasted off at around 6 pm today (October 24) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The circumlunar satellite, named Chang’e I after the legendary Chinese fairy who flew to the moon, and the Long March 3A carrier rocket had passed all pre-launch tests and had been transported to the launch site before satellite’s blasting off.

The lunar orbiter is expected to enter the Earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31; and the moon’s orbit, 380,000 km from Earth, on November 5. The satellite will relay the first pictures of the moon in late November and will continue scientific exploration for a year.

The orbiter will execute a series of projects including the capture of 3-D images and analysis of the distribution of elements on the moon’s surface, according to the spokesman.

Initiated in January 2004, the moon exploration project has three stages - "Circling the moon, Landing on the moon and Return to Earth".

The latter two involve landing an unmanned rover on the moon around 2012; and bringing back lunar soil and rock samples around 2017, according to earlier reports.

As the initial phase of the lunar probe program, the orbiting mission will "lay the technical foundation" for later stages of development, said Li, an engineer who has been working at the center for more than two decades.

If successful, the mission will become the third milestone in China’s space achievements after manned flights in 2003 and 2005.

 

Notes：

1. Chang’e I，中国探月卫星“嫦娥一号”

2. moon orbiter，月球探测器

3. Xichang Satellite Launch Center，西昌卫星发射中心

4. circumlunar，绕月运动的

5. legendary，传说

6. fairy，仙女

7. Long March 3A carrier rocket，长征-3A运载火箭

8. the Earth-moon transfer orbit，地月转移轨道

9. the moon’s orbit，月球轨道

10. relay，传递

11. 3-D image，三维图像

12. an unmanned rover，无人驾驶探测车

13. the initial phase of the lunar probe program，探月工程的初步阶段

14. milestone，里程碑