Chang'e I, China's first lunar orbiter, continued its dance in
outer space on Friday, completing its second orbital transfer to
move a step further on its 380,000-km journey to Earth's only
satellite.
The transfer that began at 4:50?PM took 54 minutes to
complete. The probe was transferred to a 24-hour orbit with an
apogee of 70,000 km, up from the previous 50,000 km, sources on an
observation ship in the southern Pacific Ocean said.
Its first orbital transfer was completed on Thursday afternoon,
after which the orbiter was transferred to a 16-hour orbit. It's
expected to enter the Earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and
reach the lunar orbit on November 5.
With Chang'e I moving closer to the moon, the 570,000 residents
of Xichang in Sichuan Province from where it was launched, are busy
counting the money they are making because of the lunar probe.
The total tourism revenue is expected to cross 100 million yuan
(US$13 million), according to Chen Le, deputy chief of the local
tourism bureau.
Most hotel rooms had been booked a month before Wednesday's
launch, with taxi drivers earning an impressive average of 700 to
800 yuan (US$93-106) a day.
Travel agencies are still counting the record number of visitors
to the till-now remote place.
Chang'e I has fundamentally changed the nature of the city,
which has now become a full-fledged attraction for tourists, both
from home and abroad.
"The visitors won't just see the launch site and leave; they
naturally will hang around and visit nearby interesting places. It
has had a chain effect," said Chen.
His bureau has sold about 30,000 tickets a day in Xichang's 20
major tourist attractions since October 20 - double the number sold
during last year's National Day Golden Week holiday.
"Most visitors have come this year because of Chang'e I," he
said.
Head of a local tourist firm Cao Yingxue couldn't agree more.
The 51-year-old's agency provided tours - charging about 1,000 yuan
(US$133) per ticket - to see Chang'e I lift off. As of Wednesday,
Cao had collected about 2 million yuan (US$266,000) from this
category alone.
People have made hay under the Chang'e I sun in other parts of
the city too. Publishers, for example, have released several
well-received books on the past and present of the lunar
project.
(China Daily October 28, 2007)