Friday, October 30, 2026

2010-10-01 · 16 years ago

Chang'e-2 — launch

Date in UTC

Chang'e 2 is a Chinese uncrewed lunar probe that was launched on 1 October 2010. 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. 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.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_2. Related NASA reference: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html#2010. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Category
Launches and Flight Tests
Type
Orbital launch
Subjects
Space transportation
Mission
Chang'e-2
Organization
Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology
Vehicle
Chang Zheng 3C
Location
Xichang Space Center (Songlin), Sichuan, China
Country
CN
Human involvement
Uncrewed
Outcome
Successful

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