China´s 1st lunar probe to activate probing facilities on Monday

Chang'e One is about to begin its scientific mission. The orbiter will activate its probing mechanism on Monday night, after fine-tuning its position.

After Monday's maneuvers, Chang'e One will officially begin to study the moon.

Pei Zhaoyu Spokesman of China National Space Administration said "Starting on November 19th, Chang'e One will gradually activate its probing mechanism, and begin to carry out various tests. It's expected to send back its first picture of the moon in late November."

Chang'e One carries eight state-of-the-art probing devices, including a stereo camera and interferometer, an imager and a gamma/x-ray spectrometer.

On Monday, Chang'e One will also position its solar panel toward the sun for power. Its antenna will turn toward the earth to facilitate the transmission of data back to the ground.

The orbiter has gone through a number of tests since it entered a working orbit 200 kilometers above the moon's surface 11 days ago. All the tests indicate that the probe is working properly.

On November 12th, Chang'e One lost communication with the ground for 45 minutes. Experts say the blackout was a result of the moon's motion trajectory.

Editor:Xiong Qu