China - NON-MILITARY space activities & Space Industry

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China Focus: Chinese astronauts complete first extravehicular activities for space station construction - Xinhua | English.news.cn

China Focus: Chinese astronauts complete first extravehicular activities for space station construction
Source: Xinhua | 2021-07-04 16:51:19 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese astronauts have completed extravehicular activities (EVAs) and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Sunday.

The first EVAs during the construction of the country's space station were a complete success, the CMSA declared.

The Shenzhou-12 spaceship crew, after approximately 7 hours of extravehicular activities (EVAs), have completed all the scheduled tasks, and astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo returned to the space station core module at 2:57 p.m. (Beijing Time), according to CMSA.

Astronaut Nie Haisheng has been staying inside Tianhe in cooperation with Liu and Tang for their EVAs.

This was the second time that Chinese astronauts have performed EVAs after the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008.

The scheduled tasks of the EVAs, including equipment installation and panoramic camera lifting, were accomplished with close coordination between space and the ground, as well as between the astronauts inside and outside of the spacecraft.

The EVAs tested the performance and function of the new-generation homemade extravehicular mobility units and the coordination between the astronauts and the mechanical arm, as well as the reliability and safety of related EVA supporting equipment.

This has laid an important foundation for subsequent EVAs for the space station construction, said the CMSA.

The three astronauts on board the Shenzhou-12 spaceship were sent into space and entered Tianhe on June 17 and have since carried out a number of tasks as planned.

Currently, they are in good health and will perform EVAs for a second time during their stay in orbit, the CMSA said.

 

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China launches new relay satellite - Xinhua | English.news.cn

China launches new relay satellite
Source: Xinhua | 2021-07-07 01:01:07 | Editor: huaxia

XICHANG, July 6 (Xinhua)-- China successfully launched a new relay satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 11:53 p.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time).

Tianlian I-05 was sent into orbit by a Long March-3C carrier rocket.

Tuesday's launch was the 378th mission of the Long March rocket series.

 

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China launches new satellite group - Xinhua | English.news.cn

China launches new satellite group
Source: Xinhua | 2021-07-09 21:10:27 | Editor: huaxia

TAIYUAN, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday successfully sent a new satellite group into preset orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

The Zhongzi-02 satellite group was launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket at 7:59 p.m. (Beijing Time).

Friday's launch was the 379th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.

 

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China releases new images taken by Mars rover - Xinhua | English.news.cn

China releases new images taken by Mars rover
Source: Xinhua | 2021-07-09 22:38:11 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars rover Zhurong has traveled more than 300 meters on the surface of the red planet and sent back new images about the Martian rocks, sand and dust.

As of Thursday, Zhurong has been working on the Martian surface for 54 Martian days and has traveled more than 300 meters, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

A Martian day is approximately 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.

Since the rover landed on the surface of Mars, it has been traveling southward to carry out inspection and exploration.

The navigation terrain camera takes images of the landforms along the way every day. The subsurface radar, meteorological measurement instrument and surface magnetic field detector were also turned on for detection.

When the rover met notable landforms like rocks and sand dunes, the surface composition detector and multispectral camera carried out fixed-point detection.

In two images of Martian rocks, the texture features of the Martian rocks and ruts of the rover are seen clearly, and some rock surfaces are covered with dust.

June 26 is Zhurong's 42nd Martian day. The rover arrived at a sand dune area. The navigation terrain camera onboard took images of a red sand dune about six meters from it. In one image, stones of different sizes are scattered around the dune. The stone facing the rover is about 0.34 meters wide.

July 4 is Zhurong's 50th Martian day. It drove to the south side of the sand dune, which is about 40 meters long, eight meters wide and 0.6 meters high.

A cluster of stones with various shapes is shown on the left of an image. And the back cover and parachute of the lander can be seen in the upper right corner. When Zhurong took the image, the linear distance between the rover and the landing point was about 210 meters, and the distance between the rover and the back cover and parachute was about 130 meters.

China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander carrying the rover touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15.

The rover Zhurong drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface on May 22, starting its exploration of the red planet, and making China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars.

 

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Views of Earth from China's Tiangong space station

 

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China Releases New Images Captured by Mars Rover, Orbiter
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday released new photos and videos captured by the country's first Mars rover Zhurong and the orbiter of the Tianwen-1 mission.

 

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https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yUl2LwQmrWVRsWHwTrp0dA

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China's reusable suborbital carrier successfully completes first flight - Xinhua | English.news.cn

China's reusable suborbital carrier successfully completes first flight
Source: Xinhua | 2021-07-16 21:15:35 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A reusable suborbital carrier landed stably at an airport in Alxa League in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region during a flight demonstration and verification project on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, the carrier was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi Desert. Its first flight mission was a complete success.

Developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the reusable suborbital carrier can be used in the space transport system.

The success of the flight has laid a solid foundation for the development of China's reusable space transportation.