China
is readying a set of radio telescopes to monitor that country's first lunar
orbiter--Chang'e 1--according to Li Yan, director of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) Yunnan Observatory.
A
monitoring project has successfully demonstrated that China is capable of detecting and tracking its future Moon-orbiting satellites. Spread out
in distance from each other, the radio dishes are set up in Beijing, Shanghai, the southwestern Yunnan Province, and the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region.
In
a June 20 report from the Xinhua news agency in China, the testing was done in an agreement between CAS and the European Space Agency (ESA)
that is now operating its SMART-1 spacecraft as it circles the Moon.
According
to Xinhua, Wang Min, chief scientist in charge of the telescope test
project, said the test lasted five days in accordance with an agreement between
CAS and ESA. Every four hours, the satellite circled the Moon and the
telescopes were able to detect half the orbit, or about two hours.
The
Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter is to be lofted toward the Moon on a Chinese Long March
booster next year.
China's Moon probe is
based upon that country's Dongfanghong III satellite platform and other
technology. Chang'e 1 is on track to be tested at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest
China's Sichuan Province in December. If the probe's readiness is green-lighted it
will be launched in April 2007.
Multi-phase program
Chang'e
1 will be outfitted with a stereo camera system to chart the lunar surface, an
altimeter to measure the distance between the spacecraft and the lunar surface,
a gamma/X-ray spectrometer to study the overall composition and radioactive
components of the Moon, a microwave radiometer to map the thickness of the
lunar regolith, and a system of space environment monitors to collect data on
the solar wind and near-lunar region.
Earlier
this year, Luo Ge, deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA)
visited the United States, outlining his nation's Moon agenda. Chang'e 1 is the
first step in a multi-phase lunar exploration effort.
Luo
stated that China also intends to land a rover on the Moon's surface by 2012,
followed by a robotic lunar sample return mission in 2017.
Chinese
space officials were reported earlier this month as saying that a human mission
to the Moon by China is slated by 2024.
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