Chang'e 2

Chang'e 2
Chang'e 2 mockup displayed at Beijing Air and Space Museum
Mission typeLunar orbiter
Asteroid flyby
Technology demonstration
OperatorCNSA
COSPAR ID2010-050A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.37174
Mission durationPlanned: 6 months
Final: ~4 years
Spacecraft properties
BusDFH-3
Launch mass2,480 kg[1]
Start of mission
Launch date1 October 2010, 10:59 (2010-10-01UTC10:59Z) UTC
RocketChang Zheng 3C
Launch siteXichang LC-2
End of mission
Last contact2014[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric
Lunar orbiter
Orbital insertion6 October 2010, 03:06 UTC
Orbital departure8 June 2011
Flyby of 4179 Toutatis
Closest approach13 December 2012, 08:30 UTC
Distance3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi)
Instruments
CCD-improved stereo camera
Laser altimeter
Gamma/X-ray spectrometers
Microwave detector

Chang'e 2 ( /tʃæŋˈʌ/; simplified Chinese: 嫦娥二号; traditional Chinese: 嫦娥二號; pinyin: Cháng'é èr hào) is a Chinese uncrewed lunar probe that was launched on 1 October 2010.[3] It was a follow-up to the Chang'e 1 lunar probe, which was launched in 2007. Chang'e 2 was part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and conducted research from a 100-km-high lunar orbit in preparation for the December 2013 soft landing by the Chang'e 3 lander and rover.[4][5] Chang'e 2 was similar in design to Chang'e 1, although it featured some technical improvements, including a more advanced onboard camera. Like its predecessor, the probe was named after Chang'e, an ancient Chinese moon goddess.

After completing its primary objective, the probe left lunar orbit for the Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point, to test the Chinese tracking and control network, making the China National Space Administration the third space agency after NASA and ESA to have visited this point.[6] It entered orbit around L2 on 25 August 2011, and began transmitting data from its new position in September 2011.[7][8] In April 2012, Chang'e 2 departed L2 to begin an extended mission to the asteroid 4179 Toutatis,[9][10] which it successfully flew by in December 2012.[11] This success made China's CNSA the fourth space agency to directly explore asteroids, after NASA, ESA and JAXA. As of 2014, Chang'e 2 has travelled over 100 million km from Earth,[12] conducting a long-term mission to verify China's deep-space tracking and control systems.[13] Contact with the spacecraft was lost in 2014 as its signal strength weakened due to distance.[2] The probe is expected to return to Earth's vicinity sometime around 2027.[14]

  1. ^ "Chang'e 2" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference xinhua-20200925 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference sfnow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Bodeen, Christopher (27 November 2009). "China to launch second lunar probe next October". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference space.com-20130619 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ SpaceDaily. "China's second moon orbiter Chang'e-2 goes to outer space". XNA. 10 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Chinese space craft travels 1.7 mn km deep into space". India Times. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Chang'e 2 reaches liberation point 2". Xinhua. 27 August 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference EngSource was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Lakdawalla, Emily (15 June 2012). "Update on yesterday's post about Chang'E 2 going to Toutatis". Planetary Society. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  11. ^ Lakdawalla, Emily (14 December 2012). "Chang'E 2 imaging of Toutatis succeeded beyond my expectations!". Planetary.org. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  12. ^ "Backgrounder: Timeline of China's lunar program". Xinhua. CCTV English. 26 November 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  13. ^ "嫦娥二号进入最远深空". SpaceXploration Blog. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  14. ^ Jones, Andrew (16 April 2021). "China to launch a pair of spacecraft towards the edge of the solar system". SpaceNews. Retrieved 16 April 2021. Wu added that the 2010 Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter, which later conducted a flyby of asteroid Toutatis, is expected to return to the vicinity of the earth around 2027.