Experts said Tuesday though China's Long March 3A has completed
14 successful launches in a row, there are three major factors that
may affect its coming task to launch the nation's first lunar
orbiter.
The factors include operating errors by staff on the launch
site, unfavorable weather and the quality of the rocket itself.
According to the experts, weather may delay the launch and the
rocket will not be able to take off if there is thunder, heavy rain
or high winds.
Jin Zhiqiang, deputy command-in-chief of the rocket system of
China's lunar probe program, said harsh weather could cause short
circuits in electronic components in the rocket. Meanwhile, if
tubes and valves of the Long March 3A, which is a low-temperature
rocket, are frozen, and are not defrosted in time, launch could be
delayed so much that they might miss their favourable launch
window.
Earlier media reports said China was planning to launch its
first moon orbiter at around 6:00?PM on October 24 from the
Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China's Sichuan
Province.
The lunar satellite has been named Chang'e I after the legendary
Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon.
"The satellite will be launched between October 24 and 26 and
our first choice is around 6:00?PM on October 24,"a spokesman
for the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
"What is worrying me most is the possibility that there is still
something we haven't thought of,"said Ye Peijian, chief designer
and command-in-chief of the satellite system of China's lunar probe
program.
"We've exerted 200 percent efforts to ensure a 100 percent
success," Ye added.
"We've envisaged 84 possible failures in the rocket and
satellite, and we've solved them during our drills,"Ye said.
"But if there is something that we did not think of, there will
be trouble,"he added.
The lunar probe is expected to enter earth-moon transfer orbit
on October 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on November 5.
The satellite will relay the first pictures of the moon in late
November and will then continue scientific explorations of the moon
for a year.
The orbiter will carry out a series of projects including
acquiring 3-D images and analyzing the distribution of elements on
the moon's surface, according to the spokesman.
"Experts from foreign space administrations have been invited to
watch the launch on site," said the CNSA spokesman.
"China welcomes international cooperation in space activities,"
he said.
China hopes to become the 17th nation to join the International
Space Station (ISS) project, Vice Minister of Science and
Technology Li Xueyong said on the sidelines of the 17th National
Congress of the Communist Party of China last week.
The Chinese government has been pursuing a policy of peaceful
use of airspace, Li said.
The satellite launch will mark the first step of China's
three-stage moon mission, which will lead to a moon landing and
launch of a moon rover around 2012. In the third phase, another
rover will land on the moon and return to earth with lunar soil and
stone samples for scientific research around 2017.
China carried out its maiden piloted space flight in October
2003, making it only the third country in the world after the
former Soviet Union and the United States to have sent men into
space. In October 2005, China completed its second manned space
flight, with two astronauts on board.
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2007)