Chang'e 1

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Chang'e 1

Chang'e 1 spacecraft
Organization China National Space Administration
Mission type Orbiter / Impactor
Satellite of The Moon
Launch date 2007-10-24 18:05:04.602 CST[1]
Launch Pad 3, Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Launch vehicle Long March 3A rocket
Mission duration Planned: 1 year
Achieved: 16 months
Orbital decay 2009-03-01, 08:13 UTC[2]
COSPAR ID 2007-051A
Home page CLEP
Mass 2,350 kg
Orbital elements
Inclination ~64°
Orbital period ~127 min
Apoapsis ~200 km
Periapsis ~200 km

Chang’e 1 (pronounced roughly as chang-uh or chang-guh; simplified Chinese: 嫦娥一号; traditional Chinese: 嫦娥一號; pinyin: Cháng'é Yī Hào) was an unmanned Chinese lunar-orbiting spacecraft, part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The spacecraft was named after a Chinese mythological figure, Chang'e.

Chang'e 1 was launched at 10:05 GMT on October 24, 2007[3] from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. It left lunar transfer orbit on October 31 and entered lunar orbit on November 5[4] .

The first picture of the Moon was relayed on November 26, 2007.[5] On November 12, 2008, a map of the whole lunar surface was released, produced from data collected by Chang'e 1 between November 2007 and July 2008.[6]

The mission was scheduled to continue for a year, but this was later extended and the spacecraft operated until March 1, 2009, when it was taken out of orbit. It made impact with the surface of the Moon at 08:13 UTC.[2]

A sister orbital probe Chang'e 2 is scheduled to be launched in 2011.[7]

Contents

[edit] Objectives

The Chang'e 1 mission had four major goals:[8]

  1. Obtaining three-dimensional images of the landforms and geological structures of the lunar surface, so as to provide a reference for planned future soft landings. The orbit of Chang'e 1 around the Moon was designed to provide complete coverage, including areas near the north and south poles not covered by previous missions.
  2. Analysing and mapping the abundance and distribution of various chemical elements on the lunar surface as part of an evaluation of potentially useful resources on the Moon. China hopes to extend the number of elements studied to 14 (potassium (K), thorium (Th), uranium (U), oxygen (O), silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), tellurium (Te), titanium (Ti), sodium (Na), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), and lanthanum (La)),[9] compared with the 10 elements (K, U, Th, Fe (iron), Ti, O, Si, Al, Mg, and Ca)[10] previously probed by NASA's Lunar Prospector.
  3. Probing the features of the lunar soil and assessing its depth, as well as the amount of helium-3 (³He) present.[9]
  4. Probing the space environment between 40,000 km and 400,000 km from the Earth, recording data on the solar wind and studying the impact of solar activity on the Earth and the Moon.

In addition, the lunar probe engineering system, composed of five major systems – the satellite system, the launch vehicle system, the launch site system, the monitoring and control system and the ground application system – accomplished five goals:

  • Researching, developing and launching China's first lunar probe
  • Mastering the basic technology of placing satellites in lunar orbit
  • Conducting China's first scientific exploration of the Moon
  • Initially forming a lunar probe space engineering system[clarification needed]
  • Accumulating experience for the later phases of China's lunar exploration program

[edit] Mission

The launch of Chang'e 1 at Xichang Satellite Launch Center

According to the schedule, detailed design of the first program milestone was completed by September 2004. Research and development of a prototype probe and relevant testing of the probe were finished before the end of 2005. Design, manufacture, general assembly, test and ground experiments of the lunar orbiter were finished before December 2006.

Originally scheduled for April 2007, the launch was postponed until October as this was "a better time for sending a satellite into the moon's orbit".[11] Chang'e 1 was launched by a Long March 3A rocket at 10:05 GMT on October 24, 2007 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.

After liftoff, Chang'e 1 made three orbits around the Earth, a burn at perigee extending the orbit's apogee further each time, until a final translunar injection burn placed it on course for the Moon on October 31, 2007. Another burn placed it in a polar orbit around the Moon, with burns at the perilune of the first three orbits decreasing the apolune until it entered a final circular orbit. Lunar orbit insertion was achieved on the November 5, 2007. To mark this occasion, the probe transmitted 30 classical Chinese songs and musical pieces, including "My Motherland", "The Song of the Yangtze River", and "High Mountains and Flowing Water".

The probe was remotely controlled from stations at Qingdao and Kashgar. As well as Chinese facilities, the ESA Maspalomas Tracking Station was used to transmit signals to and from the probe.

The first pictures of the Moon were relayed on November 26, 2007. The probe was designed to orbit the Moon for one year,[9] but operations were later extended, and it remained in lunar orbit until March 1, 2009.

[edit] End of mission

On March, 1st, 2009, at 08:13:10 UTC, Chang'e 1 crashed onto the surface of the Moon, ending its mission. According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (China), this was a planned and controlled impact.[12] Impact point was just south of the lunar equator, at 52.36 degrees East Longitude[13]. During its orbital mission the probe transmitted 1,400 gigabits or 175 gigabytes(GB) of data.

[edit] Design and instrumentation

The Chang'e 1 spacecraft had a mass of 2,350 kg, with 130 kg of payload. It carried 24 pieces of equipment, including a CCD stereo camera, microprobe instruments and a high-energy solar particle detector.

[edit] Images obtained

Wan-Hoo crater

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1 blasts off". SINA Corporation. October 24, 2007. http://english.sina.com/technology/1/2007/1024/129176.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-24. 
  2. ^ a b Guodong, Du (2009-03-01). "China's lunar probe Chang'e-1 impacts moon". Xinhua. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/01/content_10923205.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-01. 
  3. ^ "China's 1st moon orbiter enters Earth orbit". Xinhua News Agency. October 24, 2007. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/24/content_6937622.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-24. 
  4. ^ http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Chinas_Change_I_Enters_Moon_Orbit_10279.html
  5. ^ "China publishes first moon picture". China National Space Administration. November 26, 2007. http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/n620682/n639462/132125.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-26. 
  6. ^ "China publishes first map of whole lunar surface". November 12, 2008. http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/s/2008-11-12/1559529860.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-12. 
  7. ^ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/12/content_7199005.htm
  8. ^ "Chang'e-1 - new mission to Moon lifts off". European Space Agency. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMPM53Z28F_index_0.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-24. 
  9. ^ a b c Sūn Huīxiān (孙辉先), Dài Shùwǔ (代树武), Yáng Jiànfēng (杨建峰), Wú Jì (吴季) and Jiāng Jǐngshān (姜景山) (2005). "Scientific objectives and payloads of Chang’E-1 lunar satellite" (PDF). Journal of Earth System Science 114: 789–794. doi:10.1007/BF02715964. http://www.ias.ac.in/jessci/dec2005/ilc-25.pdf. 
  10. ^ D. J. Lawrence, * W. C. Feldman, B. L. Barraclough, A. B. Binder, R. C. Elphic, S. Maurice, D. R. Thomsen (1998). "Global Elemental Maps of the Moon: The Lunar Prospector Gamma-Ray Spectrometer". Science 281 (5382): 1484–1489. doi:10.1126/science.281.5382.1484. PMID 9727970. 
  11. ^ "Chang'e-1 Satellite Launch Delayed". China Radio International. March 15, 2007. http://english.cri.cn/2906/2007/03/15/1261@205784.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-24. 
  12. ^ "China lunar probe mission ends with planned crash". The Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZBB3YlRbLgxnFO4CJ0cYG-IQ5qwD96L5NJ82. Retrieved on 2009-03-02. 
  13. ^ Smackdown, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 70, 10 (9 March 2009), p. 16

[edit] External links

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