Chang'e 2
Mission type | Lunar orbiter Asteroid flyby Technology demonstration |
---|---|
Operator | CNSA |
COSPAR ID | 2010-050A |
SATCAT no. | 37174 |
Mission duration | Planned: 6 months Final: ~4 years |
Spacecraft properties | |
DFH-3 | |
Launch mass | 2,480 kg[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 1 October 2010, 10:59 | UTC
Rocket | LC-2 |
End of mission | |
Last contact | 2014[2] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric |
Lunar orbiter | |
Orbital insertion | 6 October 2010, 03:06 UTC |
Orbital departure | 8 June 2011 |
Flyby of 4179 Toutatis | |
Closest approach | 13 December 2012, 08:30 UTC |
Distance | 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) |
Instruments | |
X-ray spectrometers Microwave detector | |
→ |
Chang'e 2 (
After completing its primary objective, the probe left lunar orbit for the Earth–Sun
Overview
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is designed to be conducted in four [15] phases of incremental technological advancement: The first is simply reaching lunar orbit, a task completed by Chang'e 1 in 2007 and Chang'e 2 in 2010. The second is landing and roving on the Moon, as Chang'e 3 did in 2013 and Chang'e 4 did in 2019. The third is collecting lunar samples from the near-side and sending them to Earth, a task Chang'e 5 completed in 2020 and Chang'e 6 will repeat the same task. The fourth phase consists of development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole.[15][16][17] The program aims to facilitate a crewed lunar landing in the 2030s and possibly build an outpost near the south pole.[18]
Design
Chang'e 2 was the backup of the Chang'e 1 probe and it had been modified for its own mission.
Late in the mission, Chang'e 2's orbit was lowered to an elliptical one, with the same
Mission summary
Launch
Chang'e 2 was launched on 1 October 2010 at 10:59:57 UTC aboard a Long March 3C rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, Sichuan.[3] The launch of the probe coincided with China's National Day on 1 October, in a symbolic celebration of the country's 61st communist anniversary.[23]
Lunar mission
The spacecraft entered an orbit with a perigee of 200 km and an apogee of 380,000 km, and separated from the carrier rocket as planned. It was the first time that a Chinese lunar probe directly entered an Earth-to-Moon transfer orbit without orbiting the Earth first.[24] After the launch, Chang'e 2 arrived in its lunar orbit within 4 days and 16 hours. Later, the probe lowered its orbit to 100 km (62 mi), with a perilune of 15 km (9.3 mi).[25] Chang'e 2 entered its 100 km working orbit on 9 October 2010 after three successful brakings.[26] On 8 November 2010, the Chinese government announced the success of all of Chang'e 2's mission objectives,[27] and published lunar surface images with a resolution of up to 1.3 metres (4.3 ft).[28] In February 2012, the Chinese government released a complete lunar map constructed from Chang'e 2's data, claiming that it was the highest-resolution map of the entire Moon yet recorded.[29] The full dataset, including the map with resolutions of 7, 20 and 50 m, and elevations model with resolutions of 20 and 50 m, is available for free download since April 2018.[30]
L2 mission
On 8 June 2011, Chang'e 2 completed its extended mission, and left lunar orbit for the Earth–Sun L2
4179 Toutatis mission
According to
Deep-space journey
As of 2016, Chang'e 2 has reached a distance of over 200 million km from Earth; potentially, it has enough fuel remaining to continue functioning up to a distance of 300 million km, according to the China Aerospace Corporation. Contact with the probe was lost in 2014, however, due to weakening signal strength.[2] It is estimated that Chang'e 2 will return to the Earth's vicinity around 2027.[14]
See also
- Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
- List of asteroids visited by spacecraft
- Robotic exploration of the Moon
References
- ^ "Chang'e 2" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
- ^ a b c "深空测控网:为"天问一号"指路" [Deep Space Measurement and Control Network: Guiding the Way for "Tianwen-1"]. Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 25 September 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- ^ a b Stephen Clark (1 October 2010). "China's second moon probe dispatched from Earth". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ Bodeen, Christopher (27 November 2009). "China to launch second lunar probe next October". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
- ^ "China Readying 1st Moon Rover for Launch This Year". Space.com. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ SpaceDaily. "China's second moon orbiter Chang'e-2 goes to outer space". XNA. 10 June 2011.
- ^ India Times. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ Xinhua. 27 August 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ a b Lakdawalla, Emily (14 June 2012). "Chang'E 2 has departed Earth's neighborhood for.....asteroid Toutatis!?". Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- Planetary Society. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ Lakdawalla, Emily (14 December 2012). "Chang'E 2 imaging of Toutatis succeeded beyond my expectations!". Planetary.org. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- ^ "Backgrounder: Timeline of China's lunar program". Xinhua. CCTV English. 26 November 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ "嫦娥二号进入最远深空". SpaceXploration Blog. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ a b Jones, Andrew (16 April 2021). "China to launch a pair of spacecraft towards the edge of the solar system". SpaceNews. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
Wu added that the 2010 Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter, which later conducted a flyby of asteroid Toutatis, is expected to return to the vicinity of the earth around 2027.
- ^ a b Chang'e 4 press conference. CNSA, broadcast on 14 January 2019.
- ^ A Tentative Plan of China to Establish a Lunar Research Station in the Next Ten Years. Zou, Yongliao; Xu, Lin; Jia, Yingzhuo. 42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 14–22 July 2018, in Pasadena, California, USA, Abstract id. B3.1-34-18.
- ^ China lays out its ambitions to colonize the moon and build a "lunar palace". Echo Huang, Quartz. 26 April 2018.
- ^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
- ^ a b "China to launch Chang'E 2 on Friday, October 1". www.planetary.org. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ Robert Pearlman (1 October 2010). "China launches lunar probe Chang'e II". collectSPACENews. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- ^ Future Chinese Lunar Missions: Chang'e 4 - Farside Lander and Rover. David R. Williams, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 7 December 2018.
- ^ Stumme, Susan (2 October 2010). "China launches second lunar probe". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- ^ "China's 2nd lunar probe Chang'e-2 blasts off". Xinhua. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on October 4, 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ Rui C. Barbosa (1 October 2010). "Long March 3C successfully launches Chang'e-2, China's second lunar probe". NASAspaceflight. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ "China's second lunar probe completes final braking, enters working orbit". Xinhua News Agency. October 9, 2010. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- ^ "China announces success of Chang'e-2 lunar probe mission". Xinhua News Agency. November 8, 2010. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- ^ "Chang'e 2 local image maps first published". Sina.com.cn. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "China unveils best Moon map yet from lunar orbiter". Space.com. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Data publishing and information service system of lunar exploration program". Archived from the original on 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
- ^ "China's second moon orbiter Chang'e-2 goes to outer space". XNA/SpaceDaily. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ "What's up in the solar system in September 2011" Archived 2011-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. Planetary.org. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Chang'e 2: The Full Story". Planetary.org. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New Observations from a Successful Flyby of Chang'e-2 (Report). Nature.com. December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
- ^ "Chang'E 2 images of Toutatis" Archived 2012-12-18 at the Wayback Machine. Planetary.org. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "China's space probe flies by asteroid Toutatis" Archived 2012-12-15 at the Wayback Machine. China Daily. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
External links
- Lunar mission timeline. NASA.
- Recent Lunar missions. NASA.
- "Exploring the Moon: A history of lunar discovery from the first space probes to recent times". IanRidpath.com.
- "Five amazing engineering camera videos from Chang'E 2" (includes lunar imagery, thruster firings, and solar panel deployment). Planetary Society.