14 DAY TRIAL // Following the successful launch of the Chang'e 1, the first Chinese lunar orbiter, Chang'e 2 is supposed to launch in the course of next year, only to become the second probe in the Chang'e program. The third, Chang'e 3, will most likely be a robotic lander that is expected to launch somewhere around 2011. After the launch on 24th of October 2007, the short trip to the Moon and an accusation of forgery, the Chang'e 1 fell in the shadow. Literally!
Although successful in its mission until now, the Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter seems to have experienced slight technical problems during the lunar eclipse that took place on 20-21 of February, as its solar panels were starved of precious solar energy which powers most of its systems. During the eclipse, the Chinese engineers struggled to alter its orbital trajectory so that it would end up in a sunnier position. However, the success of the operation was partial and Chang'e 1 was forced to spend more than 80 minutes in the shadow cast by the Earth, dropping the battery power reserves to about 60 percent of the total capacity.
A considerable loss of power, but negligible and less severe than approximated by engineers in the days before the eclipse. Weighing a massive 2,350 kilograms, Chang'e 1's mission spans over the period of a whole year, when it has the mission of mapping and studying the lunar surface. After the eclipse was over and about 45 minutes of break in radio contact with the mission control on Earth, Chang'e 1 sent a transmission containing 30 songs to celebrate the end of the Lunar New Year festivities and China's Lantern Festival.
The announcement of that launch schedule of the Chang'e 2 lunar probe was reported by the Xinhua News Agency and the Chinese Central Television. Ye Peijian, commander of the Chang'e mission, says that both orbiters are based on the Dongfanghong 3 telecommunication satellite platform, additionally equipped with eight instruments, but failed to specify whether the Chang'e 3 lander would be based on the same design.
This year, China is also preparing for the third manned mission into space, named Shenzhou 7, and is one of the three countries in the world to succeed in sending an astronaut into the Earth's orbit, with the help of the Shenzhou 5 mission which took place in 2003. During the span of the mission, the astronauts on board Shenzhou 7 will conduct three spacewalks and a series of hardware tests. China has still to confirm that it is also taking into consideration the possibility of sending a manned mission to the surface of the Moon.