spacetoday.net: China launches Chang'e-2 lunar mission

China launches Chang'e-2 lunar mission

Posted: Fri, Oct 1, 2010, 10:13 AM ET (1413 GMT)
Long March 3C launch of Chang'e-2 (Xinhua)

China launched its second lunar mission, Chang'e-2, on Friday. The Long March 3C rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China at 7:00 am EDT (1200 GMT, 7:00 pm Beijing time) Friday and placed the Chang'e-2 spacecraft on a lunar transfer orbit a short time later. The spacecraft is expected to enter lunar orbit in just under five days. The spacecraft is China's second lunar mission, after Chang'e-1, also a lunar orbiter, launched in 2007. Chang'e-2 will provide images at a higher resolution than the earlier mission as well as additional instrumentation.