Long March 3C rocket carrying China's second unmanned lunar probe, Chang'e II, lifts off from the launch pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, at 18:59:57 (Beijing time) on Oct. 1, 2010. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
XICHANG, Sichuan, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar probe Chang'e-2 was successfully launched, control center at the Xichang satellite launch site in southwest China's Sichuan Province announced Friday.
Chang'e-2 arrived at an earth-moon transfer orbit after it separated from the carrier rocket, which has a perigee of 200 kilometers and an apogee of about 380,000 kilometers from the earth, according to the control center.
The control center made the announcement after the satellite successfully entered the orbit and unfolded its solar panels.
At 6:59:57 p.m., the satellite blasted off on a Long March 3C carrier rocket from No. 2 launch tower at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
The lunar satellite is expected to take about 112 hours, or almost five days, to arrive at its lunar orbit.
Source: Xinhua
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