China's Chang'e 2 Ends Lunar Mission Heads for Lagrangian Point -Signals New Space Era

[n2doc]

Last year, in October, China launched its second moon orbiter, as part of the country’s rapidly growing reformed space program . Today, after finishing all its scheduled missions above the Moon, the probe has been launched out of orbit into interplanetary space, with a destination, a Lagrangian point, more than 930,000 miles away from Earth.

Lagrangian points are positions that remain constant relative to two other bodies in an orbital system. The second Lagrangian point (L2) of the Sun and the Earth is in line with the two but 1.5 million km (932,000 mi.) farther out.

“The second Lagrangian point is relatively ideal, because interference from solar radiation there is relatively low,” says the official, quoted in a People’s Daily report that can be taken as a government announcement.

Program managers considered three options for Chang’e 2 after its lunar mission: crashing it into the Moon, as they did with its predecessor, Chang’e 1; bringing it back to an orbit around the Earth; or sending it into the Solar System beyond the Moon’s orbit.

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http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/06/-weekend-news-flash-chinas-change-2-mission-heads-for-deep-space-lagrangian-point-signals-new-space-.html#more

[Jim__]

1. A graphic image of the Lagrangian points of the earth and sun.

At least that's my understanding of that image. - more on Lagrangian points

[laconicsax]

2. Is the probe going to do anything once it gets to L2?

Or is this a sort of proof-of-concept jaunt?

[Wilms]

3. The article says they'll use it to shake out their systems.

Instead, it will be more of a capability testing run, one to see how the Chinese instruments on the probe behave further into space like communication, data downlink, and control challenges which often arise.

[laconicsax]

4. I was curious if they were planning anything once they got there. n/t

[TheMadMonk]

5. They have fuel, they still have an operational spacecraft.

Even if they can't find anything to point the instruments at, it's worth taking the thing touring just for shitz and gigglez.