Chinanews, Beijing, Oct 23 – Final equipment checkup of Cheng’e No. 1 moon probe satellite was concluded. It started to fuel up at six o'clock on Tuesday morning. The fuel injection process will continue until four minutes before the rocket carrier is ignited, the Beijing Times reported.   At six o'clock Tuesday morning, Chang'e No. 1 moon probe satellite started to fuel up. Conventional fuel was injected into the satellite. The fuel injection process will last for about 36 hours before the satellite is launched into space. The fueling process is also called the 36-hour countdown to the launch, since it is done 36 hours before the actual launch takes place. It is the last procedure that the satellite will run through before the launch, said Cheng Jing, chief engineer at the technical department of the Xichang Satellite Launching Center.   After fueling up, the satellite and the carrier rocket will weigh 260 tons in total, including the fuel weight of 40 tons and the designed rocket thrust weight of 300 tons, Cheng said.   The ideal launching time for Chang'e No. 1 will be 18:05 Wednesday evening. The closer the launching is to the time, the higher the success rate will be and the less fuel the rocket will consume in the launch, Cheng said.   After being launched into space, the moon probe satellite is expected to leave the earth orbit and start to fly to the moon on October 31. On November 5, it will enter into the moon orbit. Later, its flying speed will be gradually reduced with engine control three times so that it can move around the moon with the final speed of 127 minutes per circle. The satellite is expected to send its first picture of the moon to the earth by late November. It will then start to work for one year to explore the moon.  

上一篇：Chang'e-3 to be launched in Hainan 下一篇：Beijing has most number of old trees in China