China's second lunar probe, Chang'e 2, will be launched atop a Long March 3C carrier at the end of this year, the space authority said on Thursday.
Wu Weiren, chief designer of the country's lunar probe program, said the Chang'e 2 will reach lunar orbit within a week, almost half the time taken by its predecessor, Chang'e 1, in 2007.
Launched to prepare for a soft landing by the third lunar probe in 2013, the Chang'e 2 will also test new technologies, such as a deep space tracking network and a high-resolution camera to photograph the landing area.
(China Daily September 10, 2010) |