BEIJING -- China's lunar probe Chang'e I completed its second orbital transfer on Friday afternoon, one more step forward in its 380,000-km journey to the moon.
The orbital transfer began at 4:50 pm and succeeded at 5:44 pm. The probe was transferred to an 24-hour orbit with an apogee of 70,000 kilometers, up from the former 50,000 km, according to sources from an observation ship at the southern Pacific.
The lunar probe completed its first orbital transfer Thursday afternoon, in which it was transferred to a 16-hour orbit with a perigee of about 600 km from 200 km.
Chang'e I, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon, blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket at 6:05 pm Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The satellite is expected to enter earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on November 5.
