China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, stopped rotation at
9:00?AM on Monday and is preparing for its first braking at
perilune to enter the moon's orbit.
Chang'e-1, following the instructions of the Beijing Aerospace
Control Center (BACC), will carry out the braking at about 11:00
a.m. Monday to slow down, so that it can be captured by the lunar
gravity and become a circumlunar satellite, said Wang Yejun, chief
engineer of BACC.
"The speed of Chang'e-1 can reach 2.4 km per second when it
arrives at perilune, and it will likely fly away from the moon if
the braking is not conducted in time," Wang said.
"The first braking at perilune is another key moment in the long
journey of Chang'e-1," he said.
China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, named after a legendary
Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, blasted off on a Long March
3A carrier rocket on Oct. 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch
Center in southwestern Sichuan Province.
The probe completed its fourth orbital transfer late Wednesday
afternoon, shifting out of its 120,000-kilometer orbit around the
Earth and moving toward a 380,000-kilometer circumlunar orbit.
(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2007)