Chang'e II spacecraft gets new mission
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Artistic rendering of Chang'e II in space |
The Chang'e II spacecraft was launched on October 1, 2010. The solar-powered probe was intended to deepen China's knowledge of the moon and collect information for a future moon-landing.
Its mission included testing key technologies and taking high-resolution photographs of possible landing sites. As well as these tasks Chang'e II has been continuously conducting other exploration activities on.
As early as last year, after the probe completed its main task of high-precision imaging, scientists predicted that the actual lifetime of the satellite extend beyond its designed lifetime.
The second phase China's lunar exploration program includes the Chang'e II, Chang'e III, and Chang'e IV missions. Chang'e III will land on the moon around sometime in 2013 and a prototype is already in production.
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