China's lunar probe enters earth-moon transfer orbit

China's lunar probe Chang'e-3 has entered the earth-moon transfer orbit after it separated from the carrier rocket, space authorities announced Monday.  [Special coverage]

Chang'e-3 arrived at the orbit with a perigee of 200 kilometers and an apogee of 380,000 kilometers as scheduled.

The lunar probe, including a lander and a moon rover, is expected to soft-land on the moon in mid-December if everything goes according to plan.

The 3.78-tonne probe, aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 1:30 am Monday.