Chang'e-2 Sets off to Explore Outer Space
UPDATED: 2011-06-13
BEIJING, June 13 (China Space News) — China's second lunar probe Chang'e-2 departed from its moon orbit at 17:10 on June 9, beginning a new journey to explore outer space and gain experience for future deep space explorations.
Chang'e 2 is currently flying toward the 2nd Lagrangian point, which is 15,000km from the Earth. The satellite will reach its destination in two to three months, according to experts.
There are 5 Lagrangian points in the Sun-Earth system. Chang'e-2 will fly to L2, or the 2nd Lagrangian point, which lies in the Earth's shadow and is exposed to less sun radiation than other Lagrangian points.
As the satellite was still in good condition and had adequate fuel after finishing its six-month mission on April 1, China decided to set it on its new mission.
The outer space mission is expected to test China's key technologies for deep space exploration and achieve valuable results. It will also test Chang'e-2's satellite, measurement and control, and ground application systems, as it is the first time scientists have tired to pilot a satellite out of the lunar orbit and to a faraway place in outer space over long period of time.
Chang'e 2 is currently flying toward the 2nd Lagrangian point, which is 15,000km from the Earth. The satellite will reach its destination in two to three months, according to experts.
There are 5 Lagrangian points in the Sun-Earth system. Chang'e-2 will fly to L2, or the 2nd Lagrangian point, which lies in the Earth's shadow and is exposed to less sun radiation than other Lagrangian points.
As the satellite was still in good condition and had adequate fuel after finishing its six-month mission on April 1, China decided to set it on its new mission.
The outer space mission is expected to test China's key technologies for deep space exploration and achieve valuable results. It will also test Chang'e-2's satellite, measurement and control, and ground application systems, as it is the first time scientists have tired to pilot a satellite out of the lunar orbit and to a faraway place in outer space over long period of time.