Chang'e 2
Chang'e 2 — China's second lunar orbiter, launched on 1 October 2010. It mapped the whole Moon at 7 m resolution from about 100 km up, then left in June 2011 for the Sun–Earth L2 point, 1.5 million km beyond Earth, the first spacecraft to fly there from the Moon. On 13 December 2012 it flew past the asteroid Toutatis and photographed it, 770 m from its surface by the team's published measurement (3.2 km in the first official announcement), and went on into an orbit around the Sun. (It is drawn at L2, where it spent 2011–12, on a loop of representative size; its lunar orbit before and its path around the Sun after are not drawn.)
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- CNSA
- Launched
- October 1, 2010
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.998 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 1,317,741 km
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.287 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Chang'e 2, China's second lunar orbiter, was launched on a Long March 3C from Xichang on 1 October 2010 at 10:59 UTC, straight toward the Moon without first circling Earth, and entered lunar orbit five days later. From a circular orbit about 100 km up, dipping to 15 km to photograph Sinus Iridum in detail, it photographed the whole Moon; the map released in 2012 resolves 7 m. Its mission done, it left the Moon on 9 June 2011 and on 25 August arrived at the Sun–Earth L2 point, 1.5 million km beyond Earth, the first spacecraft to fly there from lunar orbit. It circled the point for eight months. On 15 April 2012 it left for the asteroid 4179 Toutatis, and on 13 December 2012 it flew past at 10.73 km/s and photographed it: a lumpy body about 4.75 by 1.95 km with more than 50 craters. The mission team's published analysis puts the closest approach at 770 m from the surface, give or take 120 m; the first official announcement said 3.2 km. China became the fourth space agency to fly a spacecraft past an asteroid. It went on into an orbit around the Sun and was reported to be 100 million km from Earth in 2014. Whether China is still in contact with it has not been announced.
- 2010Chang'e 2 launches toward the Moon on a Long March 3C rocketLaunch
Straight toward the Moon, without first circling Earth.
- 2010Into lunar orbitArrival
- 2011Leaves the Moon for the Sun–Earth L2 pointMilestone
- 2011At the Sun–Earth L2 pointArrival
1.5 million km beyond Earth, the first spacecraft to fly there from lunar orbit.
- 2012Leaves L2 for the asteroid ToutatisMilestone
At 10.73 km/s, photographing it; the team's measurement and the first official figure.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image