China’s ‘Chang’e-2′ expected to have enough fuel to return to earth

BEIJING - China’s second unmanned lunar probe, Chang’e-2, is expected to have enough fuel to fly back to earth, Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) Vice Chief-Designer has said.

Zhou Jianliang said that Chang’e-2 was carried into lunar orbit by a rocket, and only corrected once during the transfer from earth orbit to lunar orbit, so a large amount of fuel will be left after its mission.e said that there are three possible “fates” for Chang’e-2 after it finishes its six-month mission -landing on the moon, flying to outer space or returning to earth, Xinhua news agency reports.

Chang’e 2 was launched on October 1, and is part of the first phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

The spacecraft will test key technology related to the “soft-landing” of its successor Chang’e-3 lunar landing mission planned for 2013.

It will take high quality images of the Moon’s ‘Bay of Rainbows’ area where Chang’e-3 is scheduled to land.

The total expenditure for the Chang’e 2 mission is approximately 134 million dollars. (ANI)