The nation's first moon orbiter blasts off at around 6 PM
tomorrow from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest
China's Sichuan Province.
The circumlunar satellite, named Chang'e I after the legendary
Chinese fairy who flew to the moon, and the Long March 3A carrier
rocket have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported
to the launch site.
The lunar orbiter is expected to enter the Earth-moon transfer
orbit on October 31; and the moon's orbit, 380,000 km from Earth,
on November 5.
The satellite will relay the first pictures of the moon in late
November and will continue scientific exploration for a year.
The orbiter will execute a series of projects including the
capture of 3-D images and analysis of the distribution of elements
on the moon's surface, according to the spokesman.
Initiated in January 2004, the moon exploration project has
three stages - "Circling the moon, Landing on the moon and Return
to Earth".
The latter two involve landing an unmanned rover on the moon
around 2012; and bringing back lunar soil and rock samples around
2017, according to earlier reports.
(China Daily October 23, 2007)