China Outer Space Science, Technology and Explorations: News & Updates

[cirr]

China launches Yaogan 31 satellites into orbit

2018-04-10 14:10

chinadaily.com.cn/Xinhua Editor: Mo Hong'e

A Long March 4C carrier rocket blasts off at 12:25 pm at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert of the country's northwest, April 10, 2018. (Photo/China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp)

China used a Long March 4C carrier rocket on Tuesday to lift four satellites into orbit, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the major contractor of the country's space programs.

The first group of China's Yaogan-31 remote sensing satellites were sent into space on Tuesday at 12:25 pm Beijing time from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

The satellites were carried by a Long March 4C rocket, the 271st mission for the Long March rocket family.

The mission also sent a micro nano technology experiment satellite into orbit.

The satellites will be used for electromagnetic environment surveys and other related technology tests.

China launched the first "Yaogan" series satellite, Yaogan-1, in 2006.

http://www.ecns.cn/2018/04-10/298601.shtml

 

[JSCh]

China develops cutting-edge chip for automatic control
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-11 16:40:55|Editor: Yurou


BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China has developed a measurement and control chip that is used in automatic control, according to its developer on Wednesday.

This measurement and control chip is a core component of automation. China used to rely on imports from countries such as the United States and Japan, said the Beijing Aerospace Automatic Control Institute of the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) on its official website.

Jiang Penglong, project manager of the chip development said that the development of automatic control technology is inseparable from this kind of measurement and control chip. With the wide application of automatic control technology in daily life, China's demand for measurement and control chips is increasing.

"Taking the elevator as an example, when the passenger presses the floor button, he or she actually passes the information through the measurement and control chip, which sends instructions to the elevator," Jiang said.

The development of the chip is based on rocket measurement and control technology and can be widely applied in various fields.

"Our chip can not only replace imports but also outperforms many imported chips. The operating frequency of imported chips is only a few tens of megabytes. The chips we have developed can reach hundreds of megabytes, and they are superior in terms of processing capability and integration level," Jiang said.

 

[JSCh]

China Focus: Flowers on the Moon? China's Chang'e-4 to launch lunar spring
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-12 18:22:19|Editor: Lifang

Photo provided by National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences shows a high-resolution image of lunar surface on the moon. The image is shot by Chinese Chang'e 3, an unmanned lunar exploration probe, and Yutu rover. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe is expected to do many things unprecedented in space history after it launches later this year, such as touching down softly on the far side of the Moon and taking the first flowers to blossom on the lifeless lunar surface.

The probe will carry a tin containing seeds of potato and arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard, and probably some silkworm eggs to conduct the first biological experiment on the Moon.

The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was designed by 28 Chinese universities, led by southwest China' s Chongqing University, a conference on scientific and technological innovation of Chongqing Municipality has heard.

LIFE ON THE MOON

The cylindrical tin, made from special aluminum alloy materials, is 18 cm tall, with a diameter of 16 cm, a net volume of 0.8 liters and a weight of 3 kilograms. The tin will also contain water, a nutrient solution, air and equipment such as a small camera and data transmission system.

Researchers hope the seeds will grow to blossom on the Moon, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth.

Although astronauts have cultivated plants on the International Space Station, and rice and arabidopsis were grown on China's Tiangong-2 space lab, those experiments were conducted in low-Earth orbit, at an altitude of about 400 kilometers. The environment on the Moon, 380,000 kilometers from the Earth, is more complicated.

Liu Hanlong, chief director of the experiment and vice president of Chongqing University, said since the Moon has no atmosphere, its temperature ranges from lower than minus 100 degrees centigrade to higher than 100 degrees centigrade.

"We have to keep the temperature in the 'mini biosphere' within a range from 1 degree to 30 degrees, and properly control the humidity and nutrition. We will use a tube to direct the natural light on the surface of Moon into the tin to make the plants grow," said Xie Gengxin, chief designer of the experiment.

"We want to study the respiration of the seeds and the photosynthesis on the Moon," said Liu.

"Why potato and arabidopsis? Because the growth period of arabidopsis is short and convenient to observe. And potato could become a major source of food for future space travelers," said Liu. "Our experiment might help accumulate knowledge for building a lunar base and long-term residence on the Moon."

The public, especially young people, are being encouraged to participate in the Chang'e-4 mission. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched a contest among students across China in 2016, collecting ideas on the design of the payloads.

The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was selected from more than 200 submissions, according to the CNSA.

THE FAR SIDE

Tidal forces of the Earth have slowed the Moon's rotation to the point where the same side always faces the Earth, a phenomenon called tidal locking. The other face, most of which is never visible from the Earth, is the far side of the Moon.

With its special environment and complex geological history, the far side is a hot spot for scientific and space exploration. However, landing and roving there requires a relay satellite to transmit signals.

It has been reported that China plans to send a relay satellite for Chang'e-4 to the halo orbit of the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2 in late May or early June 2018, and then launch the Chang'e-4 lunar lander and rover to the Aitken Basin of the south pole region of the Moon about half a year later.

The Von Karman Crater, named after a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist, in the Aitken Basin, was chosen as the landing site for Chang'e-4. The region is believed to have great scientific research potential.

The transmission channel is limited, and the landscape rugged, so the mission will be more complicated than Chang'e-3, China's first soft landing on the Moon in 2013, said Liu Tongjie, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of CNSA.

As the relay satellite will be sent to the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2 about 450,000 kilometers from the Earth, where a gravitational equilibrium can be maintained, it could stay in stable orbit and operate for a long time.

"We will make efforts to enable the relay satellite to work as long as possible to serve other probes, including those from other countries," said Ye Peijian,a leading Chinese aerospace expert and consultant to China's lunar exploration program.

The Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA has invited the public to write down their hopes for lunar and space exploration, and those hopes and the names of participants will be carried by the relay satellite into deep space. More than 100,000 people have taken part, according to the center.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As the far side of the Moon is shielded from electromagnetic interference from the Earth, it's an ideal place to study the space environment and solar bursts, and the probe can "listen" to the deeper reaches of the cosmos, said Liu Tongjie.

The Chang'e-4 probe will also carry scientific payloads developed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

"The Chinese and Dutch low-frequency radio spectrometers might help us detect 21-cm hydrogen line radiation and study how the earliest stars were ignited and how our cosmos emerged from darkness after the Big Bang," said Chen Xuelei, an astronomer with the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The rover will also carry an advanced small analyzer, developed in Sweden, to study the interaction between solar winds and the Moon surface.

And a neutron dosimeter, developed in Germany, will be installed on the lander to measure radiation at the landing site. Scientists say it is essential to investigate the radiation environment on the lunar surface in preparation for human missions.

 

[JSCh]

First Global Carbon Dioxide Maps Produced by Chinese Observation Satellite
Apr 13, 2018

The article is featured in the cover of Issue 6 of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences (AAS) in 2018. (Image by AAS)

"Global warming is a major problem, for which carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas involved in heating the troposphere," wrote YANG Dongxu, first author of the paper and one of the team leaders of the group that analyzes TanSat's data at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "However, the poor availability of global carbon dioxide measurements makes it difficult to estimate carbon dioxide emissions accurately."

Global XCO2 maps produced from TanSat in nadir mode in (a) April and (b) July 2017. The colored marks indicate the XCO2 values and the color scale bar is shown at the bottom of each figure. (Image by TanSat)

TanSat, launched in December 2016, is the third satellite in orbit capable of monitoring carbon dioxide with hyperspectral imaging, and it is China's first greenhouse gas monitoring satellite.

The satellite measures not only the presence of carbon dioxide, but also what YANG calls carbon dioxide flux—the source and sink of carbon dioxide on Earth's surface. The satellite can measure carbon dioxide's absorption in the near-infrared zone for a better picture of carbon dioxide's behavior on and around Earth.

The TanSat maps were completed within a year of the satellite's launch.

"TanSat can provide global carbon dioxide measurements, which will reduce the uncertainty of flux estimation and support studies on climate change," YANG said.

TanSat's data was validated by YANG and his team through carbon dioxide measurements that took on Earth's surface and a comprehensive algorithm.

"Based on the maps, a seasonal decrease in carbon dioxide concentration from spring to summer in the Northern Hemisphere is obvious, and results from a change in the rate of photosynthesis," YANG wrote. "Emission hotspots due to anthropogenic activity, such as industrial activity and fossil fuel combustion, are clearly evident in eastern China, the eastern United States, and Europe."

YANG and the rest of the TanSat team will continue to gather and analyze the global carbon dioxide data in an effort to better understand the concentration and impact of the greenhouse gas.

"The first global CO2 map of April and July in 2017 is a milestone of TanSat achievement, with the further improvement of data retrieval, it will provide more and better CO2 measurements in future," YANG said.

This work was supported by the Ministry of Sciences and Technology in China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Meteorological Administration, the National Key R&D Program of China, the National High-Tech Research and Development Program and the External Cooperation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Tiangong-1's April 2018 Reentry V1.9 Part5

First posted 10 March 2018; Updated: 13 April 2018

Official 1 April 2018 report from the French Polynesia TV channel Polynésie la 1ère.

Debris of Tiangong-1 have crashed west of Maupiti, seen by several eyewitnesses describing the reentry as a meteor shower.

A fisherman told Woullingson Raufauore, the Maupiti Mayor, by radio that debris have crashed near his boat, close to Maupelia [also known as Maupihaa], as he saw the impacts on the sea.

This was the scariest experience he has ever been through, but unharmed, he tried nonetheless to retrieve parts the debris from the ocean "without success". He returned to the island in the same afternoon.

Note:
At 08:15, 2 April 2018, Beijing time, it was 0:15 UTC, and 12:15, 1 April 2018 French Polynesia Time.

Spoiler: Link

http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsNvMgWY6Bg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EnYbfVcEA0

▲ Le satellite Tiangong-1 s’est écrasé au large de Maupiti. Published on Apr 1, 2018


Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, since 2013, and also Chair of the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) and President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), said in this regard, on 4 April 2018, before the French National Defense and Armed Forces Committee of the National Assembly:

I admit that the way this station has reentered remains for me mysterious ...

But in recent days, the whole world, and France in particular, has lived to the rhythm of the reentry of the Chinese space station Tiangong-1, with patent untruths written in newspapers.

For their reentry in the atmosphere, all the spacecrafts under control are directed towards the point called "Nemo" in the South Pacific, that is to say in the ocean, far from any inhabited land. This is where the Mir station was deorbited. And today, we are being told that this Chinese space station, theoretically out of control, fell, coincidentally, at Nemo point! The probability that this happens randomly is about 1%. We have launched investigations and we may know one day the truth. But I doubt that chance alone contributed to this lucky reentry!

J’avoue que la façon dont cette station est retombée reste pour moi mystérieuse...
Or ces derniers jours, le monde entier, et la France en particulier, a vécu au rythme de la retombée de la station spatiale chinoise Tiangong-1, avec des contre-vérités patentes écrites dans les journaux.
Pour leur rentrée dans l’atmosphère, tous les objets sous contrôle sont orientés vers le point dit «Nemo» dans le Pacifique sud, c’est-à-dire dans l’océan, loin de toute terre habitée. C’est là qu’on avait précipité la station Mir. Et aujourd’hui, on nous explique que cette station chinoise, théoriquement hors de contrôle, est tombée, comme par hasard au point Nemo! La probabilité que cela arrive spontanément est d’environ 1 %. Nous avons lancé des investigations et nous saurons peut-être un jour de quoi il retourne. Mais je doute que seul le hasard ait contribué à cette chute appropriée!

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/pdf/cr-cdef/17-18/c1718060.pdf

 

[JSCh]

China to launch a seismo-electromagnetic probe on Friday along with ESA, Danish, Argentine, commercial and student CubeSats | GBTimes

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China launches electromagnetic satellite to study earthquake precursors
Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-02 16:18:47|Editor: Lifang


JIUQUAN, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday launched its first seismo-electromagnetic satellite to study seismic precursors, which might help establish a ground-space earthquake monitoring and forecasting network in the future.

A Long March-2D rocket launched at 15:51 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in northwest China's Gobi Desert, carried the 730-kilogram China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 500 kilometers.

https://twitter.com/x/status/959346796328779776

SUCCESSFUL COMMISSIONING OF GOMX-4 NANOSATELLITES

4/13/2018

Successful Commissioning of GOMX-4 Nanosatellites
As part of a mission to demonstrate interlink communication on nanosatellite tandem formation flights and data retrieval, including surveillance of the Arctic area, the Danish nanosatellite specialist GomSpace launched two nanosatellites in February. 12 weeks later, GomSpace for the first time showed the possibility of live data capture from the two nanosatellites in space at a press conference held in Aalborg, Denmark. At the same time, the press conference marked the official transition to the so-called demonstration phase, following the mission's test phase. The latter has thus been successfully completed, and the mission is now ready to carry out its scheduled tasks.
On February 2, 2018, GomSpace launched two nanosatellites mounted on the Chinese missile Long March 2D from a launch station in the Gobi Desert. The objective of the two nanosatellites, based on GomSpace’s 6U platform, is in part to monitor the Arctic area. It is an area where ice has melted significantly in recent years, meaning that the area sees more and more activity in the shape of aircraft and ships, researchers and tourists. GomSpace nanosatellites are optimally designed for such purposes as they can fly in tandem formation and thus cover a very large geographical area. The price per nanosatellite is very competitive, and the full coverage of nanosatellite formations is significantly higher compared to large, traditional billion-dollar satellites, making it economically feasible for a country like Denmark to add even more nanosatellites to the monitoring of the Arctic area.

GomSpace has built the satellites and is responsible for their operation, and at the press conference in Aalborg, the company demonstrated a historic live data transmission during which the orbiting satellites communicated with a ground station in Aalborg. Since the launch of satellites in February, GomSpace's technical team has been testing the two satellites' various subsystems to ensure optimal communication and data capture. The two nanosatellites, currently flying in orbit at a height of 500 kilometers, shoot a speed of 7.5 kilometers per second and the high speed means that there are only three "windows" per day during which GomSpace can retrieve the data recorded by the nanosatellites. The data are images and signals from ships and aircrafts and as successfully demonstrated at the press conference, this retrieval process went according to schedule, and the satellites can send both images and data signals down to Earth.

As part of the project, GomSpace and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract that includes design, production, integration, launch and operation of one of the two satellites, and ESA was also present at the press conference in Aalborg.

"The GOMX-4B satellite is our most advanced satellite design to date, and we are pleased that ESA participates in a project which, for the first time, shows how to exploit the benefits of satellite tandem formation. The platform and technology have a lot to offer to our customers and we therefore expect a lot of commercial potential moving forward. This is definitely the next-generation satellites”, states Niels Buus, CEO of GomSpace.

The satellites are based on GomSpace’s 6U platform and measure 20x30x10 cm and weigh about eight kilos. The satellites are launched into the correct orbit, and the historic mission will show how two satellites can be connected both during the launch and orbit phase. The formation flight allows satellite coverage across the globe at a fraction of the traditional costs, while also allowing ground stations to track data from aircrafts and ships, and it furthermore paves the way for radio communication between two geographical locations.



GOMspace | Successful Commissioning of GOMX-4 Nanosatellites

 

[JSCh]

China to launch Long March-5 Y3 rocket in late 2018
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-16 15:47:06|Editor: ZX


BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China plans to launch its heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March-5 Y3, in late 2018, after finding the cause of the failure of the Long March-5 Y2, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The Long March-5 Y2 rocket was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center in the southern province of Hainan on July 2, 2017, but a malfunction happened less than six minutes after liftoff.

Analysis based on computer simulations and ground tests showed that a problem occurred in a turbine exhaust device in the engine of the first stage of the rocket, the administration said Monday.

The engine has been improved and has passed many ground tests. The research team is producing the Long March-5 Y3 rocket, according to the administration.

If the Long March-5 Y3 rocket is successful, the Long March-5 Y4 rocket will be used to launch the Chang'e-5 lunar probe, which is expected to bring lunar samples back to Earth.

 

[cirr]

China working on wireless charging for rockets

2018-04-18 09:15 Xinhua Editor: Gu Liping

As wireless charging technology improves, small electronic devices such as mobile phones and electric toothbrushes can now be charged without any direct access to a power source.

China's space scientists are now exploring ways of using the same wireless charging systems in rocket design.

According to Liu Fei, the project manager at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), dozens of devices in any rocket, including the control system and telemetry, still need to be connected with the power sources by cable.

"Cables weighing hundreds of kilograms form a huge network with a wide variety of hidden dangers and a multitude of potential problems," Liu said.

Transceivers on each battery and device will create a highway for transmission of both data and power.

Liu noted that compared with small electronic products, wireless power supplies and information transmission in rockets are a very much more complicated business.

"One battery needs to supply power to all devices through electromagnetic induction, but each device has a different working mode. Our task is to reduce interference for better reliability and security," Liu said.

According to CALT, once the wireless technology is mature, the weight of a rocket will be reduced by at least one hundred kilograms, which means an extra hundred kilograms of payload.

"We have completed the ground tests and expect to use the wireless technology within two years while expanding into other fields such as robotics and satellites," Liu said.

http://www.ecns.cn/2018/04-18/299486.shtml

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

China's Jupiter Exploration Mission

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/p0-jpg.453119/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ Internal Charging Evaluation in Jupiter Exploration Mission

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/1-jpg.453120/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ 木星环绕探测任务中的内带电风险评估

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/p2-jpg.453121/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ 木星空间辐射环境

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/p3-jpg.453122/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ 内带电仿真分析方法

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/p4-jpg.453123/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ 木星轨道内带电结果

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/p5-jpg.453124/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ 赤道面轨道的内带电过程

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/p6-jpg.453125/?temp_hash=d7761bc71ebc508adc7519b98b29a789
http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

▲ 结论


http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxben/ch/..._no=20170610&year_id=2017&quarter_id=6&falg=1

Chinese Deep Space Exploration


Moon

2007: Chang'e-1 Orbiter
2010: Chang'e-2 Orbiter
2013: Chang'e-3 Softlanding, Rover
2018: Chang'e-4 Lander and Rover, Exploration of Far side of the Moon
2019: Chang'e-5 Return sample (in Oceanus Procellarum and collect 2 kilograms of regolith)
2024: Chang'e-6 Return sample (Exploration of South Pole of the Moon?)

Mars

2011: Yinghuo-1 Mars orbiter (failed)
2020: Orbiter (1 Martian Year), landing, cruising (90 Martian days for Rover)
2028: Sample Return (3 years mission)

Asteroids

2012: Chang'e-2 flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis
2024: Flying by, touch down or sample return; 2-3 asteroids explorations in one mission

Jupiter

2030: Orbiter launch

Arrival at Jupiter and its satellites by 2036

Saturn

Arrival at Saturn by 2045

Uranus

Arrival at Uranus by 2048

Spoiler: Links

https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...7/?temp_hash=c22f0c51a629a4bec70fbe7dcd26c6fc
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbE7UofVQAA4J7E.jpg
http://
http://

▲ Chinese Deep Space Exploration

 

[JSCh]

China's Chang'e-4 relay satellite named "Queqiao"
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-24 12:26:42|Editor: Liangyu


HARBIN, April 24 (Xinhua) - The relay satellite for the Chang'e-4 lunar probe, which is expected to land on the far side of the Moon later this year, has been named "Queqiao" - magpie bridge.

The name was announced by the China National Space Administration (CNSA)Tuesday, China's Space Day.

In a Chinese folktale, magpies form a bridge with their wings on the seventh night of the seventh month of the lunar calendar to enable Zhi Nu, the seventh daughter of the Goddess of Heaven, to cross and meet her beloved husband, separated from her by the Milky Way.

Together with the relay satellite, two microsatellites, developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology, will also be sent into orbit. The two microsatellites were named "Longjiang-1" and "Longjiang-2."

Work on the Chang'e-4 lunar probe is progressing well, said Li Guoping, a spokesman of CNSA.

Chang'e-4 will carry payloads for Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Sweden,

The far side of the mood is of great scientific interest, but landing there requires a relay satellite to transmit signals.

The relay satellite will be sent into the halo orbit of the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2 in late May, and the Chang'e-4 lunar lander and rover will be sent to the Aitken Basin of the south pole region of the Moon about six months later.

 

[JSCh]

China calls for ideas on design of manned lunar landing
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-23 19:27:01|Editor: pengying


BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday called for submissions from the public with creative approaches for the design of its manned lunar landing and ascent vehicles.

According to Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, the aim is to find innovative ideas for the design of manned lunar surface landing and ascent vehicles.

Submissions should include new concepts, approaches, and technology, and will be accepted from people from all walks of life with an interest in the space program.

"Manned lunar exploration is an important part of the manned space program," Zhou said. "The public is welcome to provide their ideas for the development of the Chinese manned space program."

Yang Liwei, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, said in June last year that China is making preliminary preparations for a manned lunar landing mission.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) also confirmed the plan, which will consist of a manned spaceship, a propulsion vehicle and a lunar lander. The manned spaceship and the lunar lander will be sent into circumlunar orbit separately, according to Wu Yansheng, president of CASC.

A CASC report issued in November said around 2030, heavy carrier rockets will be launched to provide powerful support to manned lunar landing missions and sufficient transportation power for samples from Mars to return to Earth.

People with an interest can find further information on the China Manned Space website www.cmse.gov.cn.

 

[JSCh]

Space Day of China: What have we done and where are we going?
By Jiang Jiao
2018-04-24 10:52 GMT+8

China’s space quest in modern history dates back to the 1950s. In 1956, China’s first missile-and-rocket research institute was set up, marking the start of China’s space industry.

On April 24, 1970, China successfully launched its first satellite, Dongfanghong I, making China the fifth country on the globe that independently launched a satellite, after the former Soviet Union, the US, France and Japan.

The launch site (L) of Dongfanghong I and the model (R) of the satellite on display /VCG Photo

In 2016, the 60th anniversary of China’s space industry, the specific date April 24 was set as Space Day of China. “Exploring the vast universe, developing space programs and becoming an aerospace power has always been the dream we strive for,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping on that occasion.

This Tuesday marks the third China’s Space Day under the theme of “Forging together the new era of space development” and the first China Commercial Space Summit held in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.

China’s space programs, which can be mainly categorized into the following four areas, is often featured by three-stage development, and usually aims to better the lives of all when entering the mature phase.

The lunar exploration is a typical example of a three-phase mission.

CGTN Infographic

Manned space missions have followed the same strategy. During the preliminary stage, manned spaceships were tested and launched. From 2008 to 2016, Chinese space scientists mastered technologies involved in a spacewalk, the launch of space lab, as well as automatic and manned docking. In years to come, the third step of assembling and operating a complex space station is expected.

CGTN Infographic

As for the satellite systems, they also share the step-by-step developing mode and will gradually cover enough area to form a space-ground integrated information network that can work for all. With sustained efforts in building the BeiDou system, China plans to provide basic services to countries along the Belt and Road in 2018, and then to the whole world.

CGTN Infographic

With high-resolution earth observation system complete, China will be able to carry on comprehensive global observation and collect data crucial to various fields.

CGTN Infographic

In the new era of space development, as China’s space infrastructure continues to improve, deep-space exploration will reach farther, and meanwhile, people will feel closer to space science and technology through its extensive application.

(Infographics designed by Yin Yating; Top image credit: VCG Photo)

 

[cirr]

China plans manned outpost on moon

2018-04-24 16:39

chinadaily.com.cn Editor: Li Yan

China's space authority has announced plans to build a manned scientific research station on the moon.

In a video shown at a ceremony in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, on Tuesday to mark China's Space Day, the China National Space Administration listed the construction and operation of a lunar scientific research station in its development road map for the space sector.

It was China's third Space Day, with the date chosen because China launched its first satellite on April 24, 1970.

"We believe that the Chinese nation's dream of residing in a 'lunar palace' will soon become a reality," the administration said in the video.

The video shows the lunar outpost will have multiple, interconnected tube cabins. One of the facility's major energy sources will be solar power, according to the video.

The administration did not reveal a schedule for the construction and operation of the outpost in the video, which also said China plans to explore the two lunar poles.

It is the first time China has made public a plan for a manned lunar outpost. In November, officials from the administration said at an international space forum in Shanghai that China was studying the feasibility of "a robotic outpost on the lunar surface to conduct scientific research and technological experiments".

http://www.ecns.cn/2018/04-24/300263.shtml

 

[JSCh]

China plans to launch new space science satellites around 2020
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-25 08:56:51|Editor: Xiang Bo


HARBIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China is striving to send a group of new satellites into orbit around 2020, as part of the country's fast-expanding space science program, a national science official said at a space conference on Tuesday.

The satellites include a Sino-European joint mission known as "SMILE," which will focus on the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth magnetosphere, according to Wang Chi, director of the National Space Science Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, or SMILE, will also help study magnetospheric substorms, so as to further our understanding of the impact of solar activities on Earth's environment and space weather, Wang said.

The Einstein-Probe, also among the new satellites, is tasked with discovering celestial bodies that emit X-rays during fierce changes as well as quiescent black holes with transient high-energy radiation, Wang said.

The satellites also include the Advanced Space-borne Solar Observatory (ASO-S) and the Gravitational Wave Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM). The former will help scientists understand the causality among magnetic fields, flares, and coronal mass ejections, and the latter is aimed at searching for electromagnetic signals associated with gravitational waves.

The Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM) will become world's first satellite to help scientists better understand Earth's water cycle by simultaneous and fast measurement of key parameters such as soil moisture, ocean salinity, and ocean surface evaporation, according to Wang.

The Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Exploration (MIT),is also in the satellite group. MIT aims at investigating the origin of upflow ions and their acceleration mechanism and discovering the key mechanism for the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere coupling.

While Europe and the United States have traditionally led in scientific development, China has emerged as a new science and technology player in recent years.

However, compared with leading powers in space, China is still going through unbalanced development in space scientific research, technology, and application.

Hopefully, these new space science satellites will help roll up the curtain of change, said Wang. "We hope to build a state lab for space science as soon as we can and achieve a significant breakthrough in the space field by 2030."

 

[cirr]

China to launch Chang'e-5 lunar probe in 2019

2018-04-24 22:51 Xinhua Editor: Wang Fan

China plans to launch the Chang'e-5 lunar probe next year, which is expected to bring lunar samples back to the Earth, according to Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

While addressing a space conference Tuesday, China's Space Day, Pei said that the Chang'e-5 lunar probe will be very complex, containing four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander.

The lander will put moon samples in a vessel in the ascender after the Moon landing. Then the ascender will take off from the Moon to dock with the orbiter and the returner orbiting the Moon, and transfer the samples to the returner, Pei said.

The orbiter and returner then head back to the Earth, separating from each other when they are several thousands of kilometers from the Earth. Finally, the returner will make its way back to the Earth, according to Pei.

After fulfilling the three steps of its lunar probe program -- orbiting, landing and returning -- China will conduct further exploration of the Moon, including landing and probing the polar regions of the Moon, said Tian Yulong, secretary general of CNSA.

China will further develop its space industry after the unmanned lunar exploration is accomplished and its own space station is established around 2022.

Many experts have proposed building a scientific research base on the Moon in the future, said Wang Liheng, a senior consultant of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Manned lunar landing and exploration are a common desire for humanity and a springboard to go deeper into space. Setting up a scientific research base on the Moon would enable scientists to conduct research, gain experience and lay the foundation for future cosmic exploration, Wang said.