Chang’e-1

CHINA’S first lunar probe, Chang’e-1, was launched Oct. 24, 2007, making China the fifth country to develop and launch a lunar probe independently.

Orbiting 200 km above the moon, it mapped 3-D images of the lunar surface, analyzed the distribution of elements, measured the depth of lunar soil and explored the environment between the earth and the moon. Chinese scientists acquired the first complete map of the moon’s surface, thanks to Chang’e-1.

After orbiting the moon for about 16 months, the probe made a controlled crash onto the lunar surface in March 2009.

Chang’e-2

Chang’e-2, which blasted off Oct. 1, 2010, gained a full lunar map with a spatial resolution of 7 meters, showing the lunar surface in more detail than Chang’e-1, which had a resolution of 120 meters.

After accomplishing its tasks, Chang’e-2 flew to the L2 point of the Sun-Earth system, where gravity from the sun and the earth balances the orbital motion of a satellite, to conduct scientific experiments.

It was then tasked to fly by the Toutatis asteroid, about 7 million km from Earth. It continued into deep space, becoming a man-made asteroid in the solar system.

Chang’e-3

Chang’e-3 was launched Dec. 2, 2013, and touched down softly on the Sinus Iridum 12 days later. It was the first Chinese spacecraft to make a soft landing on, and explore, an extraterrestrial object.

The success made China the third country, after the United States and the former Soviet Union, to soft-land on the moon.

Chang’e-3 carried a lander and a moon rover called Yutu (Jade Rabbit), which took photos of each other while the rover circled the lander. The Yutu rover suffered from a mechanical fault and stopped operating after 972 days of service on the moon.

Test craft for Chang’e-5

China launched an experimental spacecraft Oct. 24, 2014, to test technologies to be used on Chang’e-5.

Comprising a re-entry capsule and a service module, it flew half an orbit around the moon. After re-entry, the service capsules separated. The return capsule touched down at the designated landing area in Siziwang Banner, northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Nov. 1, 2014.

Queqiao relay satellite

China launched a relay satellite named Queqiao (Magpie Bridge) on May 21, 2018, to set up a communication link between Earth and the far side of the moon.

The satellite is equipped with a low-frequency radio spectrometer developed by Dutch scientists to help scientists “listen” to the deeper reaches of the cosmos.

In the same launch, a microsatellite was sent to orbit the moon to conduct ultra-long-wave astronomical observations. A small lunar optical imaging detector developed by Saudi Arabia is installed on the microsatellite.

(Xinhua)