China Directs Lunar Orbiter Crash

Chinese engineers are evaluating data from a controlled impact of the moon by the Chang'e-1 orbiter March 1 to help their planning for a soft landing there in 2012.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported the 2,350-kilogram (5,180-pound) orbiter crashed just south of the lunar equator at 52.36 degrees East Longitude, 16 months after its launch on a Long March 3A rocket.

The probe's mission lasted four months longer than its initially planned duration, and ended when controllers at the Qingdao and Kashi centers slowed its speed to allow it to fall out of orbit, according to Xinhua.

Data from the controlled crash will be used to prepare for China's next lunar mission, which aims to soft-land a rover. Preparation for that mission is under way, Wu Weiren, chief designer on China's lunar exploration program, told the Chinese news agency.

If the rover landing succeeds, China hopes to use similar hardware in 2017 to collect samples and deliver them to a sample return vehicle.

During its orbital mission, Chang'e-1 collected some 1,400 gigabits of data, including images of the lunar surface and maps of its composition. That data will be analyzed by an "expert committee" of Chinese scientists over the next year, and will be made available to foreign scientists after that, according the Chinese broadcasting network CCTV.

Artist's concept of Chang'e-1: NASA