Moon rover launch set for Monday
China will launch the Chang’e-3 lunar probe to the moon at 1:30am tomorrow from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the mission’s launching headquarters announced yesterday.
It will be the first time that a Chinese spacecraft will make a soft landing on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, where it will conduct surveys on the moon.
Facilities at the launching site are in good condition and preparations are going well, according to the headquarters.
The probe will be launched to orbit aboard an enhanced Long March-3B carrier which is more than three meters in diameter and 56.4 meters high.
Engineers have adopted technologies of high-precision guidance and control, multiple narrow window launches, transmission system for remote sensing, and reduction of the rocket’s deadweight, said Cen Zheng, rocket system commander-in-chief of the mission.
Chang’e-3 comprises a lander and a moon rover called “Yutu” (Jade Rabbit). The lunar probe will land on the moon in mid-December if everything goes according to plan.
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