China's first moon orbiter Chang'e 1 is expected to arrive at an apogee of
more than 120,000km on a new orbit around 6pm today, setting a new record in
apogee at which a Chinese aircraft has reached.
"The previous record holder is the satellite Tance-1, or Exploration-1, which
was launched in 2003 with its apogee of nearly 80,000 km," said Tang Ge, head of
orbit monitoring and controlling office of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center
(BACC).
The ultraviolet image sensors installed on the orbiter began working around
7:00am today to collect information on the earth and the moon.
It's the first time that an ultraviolet image sensor is put into actual use
on a satellite, though a few countries had tested them on the ground, said Wang
Yejun, chief engineer with the BACC.
China successfully launched the Chang'e 1, named after a mythical Chinese
goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon, on Oct. 24.
The lunar probe was successfully transferred to a 48-hour orbit with an
apogee of 120,000 km, up from the former 70,000 km, at 6:01pm yesterday.
It will stay on the orbit until tomorrow, when it is expected to enter the
earth-moon transfer orbit, a critical point that may determine whether the
satellite can fly to the moon successfully or not, according to experts with the
BACC.
