[meteorite-list] China's First Lunar Probe 'Chang'e-3' Enters Moon's Orbit

[Ron Baalke]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/chinas-first-lunar-probe-change-3-enters-moons-orbit/articleshow/26971534.cms

China's first lunar probe 'Chang'e-3' enters Moon's orbit 
The Economic Times
December 6, 2013

BEIJING: China's first unmanned lunar probe today successfully entered 
a circular Moon's orbit, a key step in the country's maiden attempt to 
soft land and explore the surface of an extra-terrestrial celestial body. 

Chang'e-3 probe entered the lunar orbit after about 112 hours on a Earth-Moon 
transfer orbit, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) said. 

The rover - known as Yutu, or Jade Rabbit - entered the orbit after 361 
seconds of precise braking by the variable thrust engine, following orders 
by engineers with BACC. 

The center later verified that Chang'e-3 had entered the 100 km-high lunar 
circular orbit. 

The braking was important otherwise Chang'e-3 would have escaped from 
the Moon, or crashed into it, the BACC said. 

The Chang'e-3 mission - named for the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology, 
with the rover vehicle named after her pet - is expected to touch down 
on the Moon in mid-December to explore its surface and and search for 
natural resources. 

The probe was launched on Monday from southwest China's Xichang Satellite 
Center. 

The Chang'e-3 will make China the third country to land a rover on the 
Moon, following the US and the former Soviet Union decades ago. 

It is first time China is attempting soft landing on a celestial body 
and also the first time any lunar soft landing is being carried out since 
1976, when other countries suspended exploration, Li Benzheng, deputy 
 commander in chief of the lunar exploration programme, had said. 

China aims to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually 
send a human to the moon.