Mission record
Chang'e 2
Also known as Change2
China National Space Administration · Launched
Explore trajectoryCompleted · Success
China's second lunar orbiter, which mapped the Moon at higher resolution before leaving it to fly past the asteroid Toutatis.
- Launch vehicle
- Long March 3C
- Launch site
- Xichang, Peoples Republic of China
- Countries
- Peoples Republic of China
- Mission types
- Orbiter, Flyby
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Chang'e 2 launched on a Long March 3C from Xichang
Departure
Chang'e 2 departed lunar orbit for Sun–Earth L2
Departure
Chang'e 2 departed the L2 region
Flyby
Chang'e 2 passed Toutatis at about 770 meters from its surface
Original flight paper gives 770 ±120m (3σ) from the irregular surface, distinct from a center distance; replaces the older catalog encounter time.
4179 Toutatis
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Chang'e 2 · Orbiter
Destinations: Moon, 4179 Toutatis
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Chang'e 2: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data · Chang'e 2 HPD 2C Earth-centered positions · bounded 2010-10-09/10 arc · source gaps retained · October 9, 2010 to October 10, 2010
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through September 14, 2026
- Chang'e 2 - NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · destination/body context · event claims
- Huang et al.: original Chang'e-2 flight chronology and Toutatis observations — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- GRAS Chinese lunar exploration science catalog and original product descriptions — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Chang'e 2 launch broadcast: engineer Wang Changlong on array dimensions, directional antenna and propulsion — OTHERTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context