Highlights/News
X-Ray Spectrometer aboard Chang'e-1 Satellite Works Well
2007-12-04
The X-Ray Spectrometer aboard Chang'e-1 Satellite started to work on November 28th while Chang'e-1 flying around the Moon. The X-Ray Spectrometer was designed and constructed by the Moon Probing Group with the Astroparticle Physics Center of the Institute of High Energy Physics, CAS. Based on the data received through the earth control system of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC), the Spectrometer proves to be working well.
The X-ray Spectrometer is one of the five scientific research projects aboard the Chang’e-1, which becomes a full success only after four-year hard efforts by all the researchers involved. It, aboard Chang’e-1 Satellite, got into the moon's orbit smoothly on November 24th. The spectrometer composed of a X-ray detector, a solar monitor and an electric-control box, will probe the distribution and contents of useful elements on the moon by analyzing the fluorescent X-ray excited by solar and cosmic rays.
The success marks the first step towards deep-space exploration.