Article Posted on : - Oct 11, 2010

The Chang'e-2 spacecraft was launched on Oct 1.

BEIJING (BNS): China’s Chang’e-2 spacecraft has successfully entered its designated working orbit after completing its third and final braking.

The unmanned lunar probe entered the 118-minute, round working orbit after completing its third and final brake on Saturday which changed its apolune (farthest point from the Moon) from 1,825 km to about 100 km, according to a report in the China Daily which quoted the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC).

The satellite will begin scientific exploration activities soon, it said.

Chang’e-2 was launched by the Long-March-3C carrier rocket on October 1.

The spacecraft will test key technology related to the “soft-landing” of its successor Chang'e-3 lunar landing mission planned for 2013. It will take high quality images of the Moon’s ‘Bay of Rainbows’ area where Chang'e-3 is scheduled to land.