China, hoping to become the 17th nation to join the International Space Station (ISS) project, plans to launch its first moon orbiter around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday.
The circumlunar satellite, which has been named Chang'e I after a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The lunar probe, the most sophisticated satellite Chinese experts have yet handled, is expected to enter earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on November 5.
Scientists will manoeuver it at least 10 times before it arrives in the moon's orbit. China's Shenzhou VI, the nation's first manned spacecraft which was launched in 2003, was manoeuvered only three times.
The fuel carried by Chang'e I accounts for nearly half of the satellite's total weight.
The satellite will relay the first picture of the moon in late November and will then continue scientific explorations of the moon for a year.
The satellite launch will mark the first step of China's three-stage moon mission, which will lead to a moon landing and launch of a moon rover around 2012. In the third phase, another rover will land on the moon and return to earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research around 2017.
China carried out its maiden piloted space flight in October 2003, making it only the third country in the world after the former Soviet Union and the United States to have sent men into space. In October 2005, China completed its second manned space flight, with two astronauts on board.
Source:Xinhua
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