BEIJING: Service module of China’s unmanned lunar orbiter is listed to return to the moon’s orbit . China’s lunar orbiter program was the world’s first mission to the moon and back in some 40 years. China becomes 3rd nation to complete a return mission to moon after Soviet Union and the United States.
Service module left the Earth-Moon second Lagrange Point (L2) after circling the point while performing additional tests, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said .A lunar orbiter is a spacecraft that orbits the moon, and its service module contains support systems used for spacecraft operations.
“It was the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to reach the L2 point, and the service module completed three circles around the point, expanding probe missions,” said Zhao Wenbo, vice director of SASTIND’s lunar probe and space project center.
The service module was 445,000 kilometers away from Earth and 57,000 km from the moon. All experiments are operating smoothly.
