China Prepares For Its 2nd Lunar Trip

More than 2,000 residents will be evacuated in China as the country gets ready to launch its second probe to the moon, reveals China Daily.

According to state-run media, the Chang’e-2 lunar probe is slated to take off during China’s National Day on October 1.

Residents within a 2.5-kilometer radius of Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the launch pad, will be asked to evacuate for precautionary measures.

The lunar probe will be testing Chang’e-3’s key landing technology and will be providing quality pictures of the landing area. Chang’e-2 will take around five days to reach lunar orbit, as per space officials’ estimate.

Chang’e-1, China’s first lunar probe, was launched in 2007. After its 16-month mission, it hit the moon in March 2009 in a controlled crash.

The decade saw significant moves from China’s space program. Chang’e probes were named after China’s legendary Moon Goddess.

China became the third country, United States being the first and Russia being the second, to put a person in orbit when it successfully sent Yang Liwei in space in 2003. In 2008, Zhai Zhigang became the first Chinese to have spacewalked.