China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, completed its 1,580,000-km
flying journey to the moon successfully on Wednesday morning and
entered its working orbit.
The probe, following instructions of the Beijing Aerospace
Control Center (BACC), started its third braking at 8:24?AM
and entered a 127-minute round polar circular orbit at around
8:35?AM after completing the braking.
The TV pictures showed gray-haired Luan Enjie, chief commander
of China's lunar probe project, and also silver-haired Sun Jiadong,
chief designer of the project, wearing smiles and holding hands
together tightly.
"It puts a successful end to the probe's long flight to the
moon," Luan said.
"The satellite entered the designed working orbit just in time
and very accurately today," said Sun, who has joined hands with
Luan for more than a decade to develop, test and carry out the
country's ambitious lunar probe project.
"The probe will travel along the orbit at a stable altitude of
200 km above the moon's surface. In each circle, it will always
pass the two polars," said Wang Yejun, chief engineer of the
Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC).
The round orbit is also the final destination of the probe,
where it is supposed to start carrying out all the planned
scientific exploration tasks.
It was originally designed to stay on the orbit for one year,
but a researcher estimated that fuel saved by smooth operations and
precise maneuvers may prolong its life span.
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.
(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2007)