China has launched its second unmanned lunar probe, designed to photograph the Moon from an orbit altitude of 9 miles.
The launch of China’s next lunar probe, Chang’e 2, could occur as soon as this Friday.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden’s diplomatic efforts aren’t ending in Saudia Arabia. He will also be heading to China in October.
Update: Bolden is right now in Prague, the Czech Republic, attending the 61st International Astronautical Congress. You can watch some of his remarks during one panel session, posted on SpaceRef.
China is continuing the mysterious maneuvers of the two satellites that might have actually touched earlier this month. Key quote:
The maneuvers, which appear to involve rendezvous operations between the SJ-06F satellite and the more recently launched SJ-12 craft, could amount to practice for space station dockings or coordinated satellite observations from orbit. Few folks would have a problem with that. But they also could be aimed at developing the expertise for lurking near someone else’s satellte and eavesdropping, or even knocking that satellite out of commission in the event of a crisis. That’s the worrisome part.
Set to launch before year’s end, construction of China’s next lunar probe, Chang’e 2, appears to be on schedule, at least according to Chinese news sources.
It appears that the Chinese have successfully maneuvered two unmanned satellites to a rendezvous in space. It is even possible that they might have touched!
China successfully launches the fifth satellite in its own GPS system.
