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

[JSCh]

Micro-satellite ready for blastoff
By Yin Han Source:Global Times Published: 2018/10/8 23:13:40

China's first "software defined" micro-satellite will be launched by the end of November, its development team leader told the Global Times on Monday.

Chen Hongyu's team at the Shanghai-based Chinese Academy of Sciences' Innovation Academy for micro-satellites has so far produced a total of at least eight micro- or nano-satellites for communication, navigation and scientific exploration.

The launch will take place "by the end of November this year," said Chen, the academy's director.

The industry buzzword "software defined" in this case relates to being able to use a private computer or even a smartphone to program the tiny satellite's functions.

A micro-satellite weighs less than 100 kilograms, and nano-satellites are under 10 kilograms, according to Science and Technology Daily.

"The function of a single micro- or nano-satellite is limited compared to a normal satellite or space station, while a network of such satellites can have advantages that outweigh the big satellites in certain aspects such as global coverage," Chen said.

More than 300 micro- and nano-satellites weighing less than 50 kilograms blasted off last year including 140 produced by India, Science and Technology Daily reported, referring to data from aerospace engineering firm SpaceWorks.

"Among all micro- and nano- satellites worldwide as of April 8, 2018, 58.7 percent were from the United States and 24.6 percent from European countries, while China occupied only 2.6 percent," Wu Shufan, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was quoted as saying by the official newspaper of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Micro- and nano-satellites will grow to occupy more than 10 percent of all satellites in the next five years as the industry enters a "golden period for development," Wu said.

The academy successfully launched an SF-1 micro-satellite on September 29, according to a document sent by the academy to Global Times on Monday.

SF-1 is the first of a 120 communication and navigation micro-satellite constellation which would cover the Earth.

The comparatively low cost of micro-satellites makes them a feasible business for private Chinese companies.

Beijing-based company Commsat plans to launch seven 100 kilograms satellites by the end of 2018.

The company also plans to send four more in 2019 and another 72 in 2021, according to a document sent by Commsat to Global Times on Monday.

Small satellites also have drawbacks.

"Unlike big spacecraft, smaller satellites are quantity-driven, especially some mini- satellites, and can quickly run out of power and become space trash," Jiao Weixin, a space science professor at Peking University told the Global Times on Monday.

The research institutes and companies should "take the space environment into consideration while developing smaller satellites," Jiao said.

China's first software-defined satellite completes in-orbit experiments
China Plus Published: 2019-07-06 21:18:59

Tianzhi-1, China's first software-defined satellite, has completed more than 10 experiments in orbit, verifying key technologies for a new generation of satellites.

Zhao Junsuo, the chief designer of the satellite, announced the results of the experiments on Friday at 2019 Software-defined Satellite Forum in Rizhao, Shandong Province.

The Tianzhi-1 software-defined satellite. [Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences]

The satellite is capable of processing data in orbit before sending it back to the earth, cutting the amount of time that ground stations need to spend collecting data from a satellite in order to levy useful results from its observations.

Unlike conventional single-purpose satellites, Tianzhi-1 can be used to carry out a variety of tasks through updates to its software, Zhang Baoxin, an expert at China Aviation News told the Global Times.

The satellite is designed to set its own orbit using data from the global navigation satellite system, which it did on March 17, 2019. By contrast, conventional satellites can only maneuver with assistance from control centers on earth, according to the Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is leading the Tianzhi-1 project.

The Long March-2D carrier rocket with the Tianzhi-1 software-defined satellite on board before it was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on November 20, 2018. [Photo: Bureau of Major R&D Programs, Chinese Academy of Sciences]

Members of the public can interact with Tianzhi-1 via a mobile phone app and give it a new mission when it is otherwise idle.

Tianzhi-1 was launched into space on a Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on November 20 last year. A follow-up mission, Tianzhi-2, project is already underway and the Tianzhi-3 mission will kick off soon.

 

[JSCh]

China’s Mars rover to launch in 2020
By Zhang Han Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/7 22:33:40

Mission shows country has ‘innovative spirit’ to overcome challenges

A mock astronaut walks in the Gobi Desert near the C-Space Project Mars simulation base outside Jinchang, Northwest China's Gansu Province, in April, 2018. Photo: VCG

Chinese scientists on Sunday announced that China will launch its first mission to Mars in 2020 and the construction of its rover has been completed.

The mission includes orbiting, landing and roving the Martian surface, an unprecedented achievement that shows China's innovative spirit in space exploration and courage to face great challenges, according to Chinese space experts.

The probe's primary mission is to detect signs of life on Mars, Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's lunar exploration plan, said at a conference on satellite and space, held in Rizhao, East China's Shandong Province from Friday to Sunday.

The mission will also examine whether the planet has the potential to be transformed in some way in the future to make it livable for humans, the 21st Century Business Herald, reported on Sunday quoted Ouyang as saying.

The Chinese rover will examine the Red Planet's atmosphere, landscape, geological and magnetic characteristics, which could provide clues to the origin and evolution of Mars and the solar system, the newspaper reported.

The launch is being timed for when the orbits of Mars and Earth are closest to each other, "which occurs every 26 months and lasts about one month," Pang Zhihao, an expert in space exploration technology in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Of the 45 previous missions to Mars only 19 have succeeded.

Among the 19 successful missions, some were designed to send orbiting satellites around the planet and some were merely flyby missions, according to records kept by NASA.

Transmissions from Earth take almost 10 minutes to reach the orbiter, so landing commands must be issued before the lander is released and many unpredictable situations can occur during the descent nicknamed "seven minutes of terror," Pang said.

Without real-time monitoring, the probe will need to "make its own decision," Pang noted.

A successful landing is only the beginning of the rover's mission in a hostile environment.

Another challenge comes from the devastating dust storms on Mars, the worst of which is comparable to a force 12 typhoon on Earth.

Such dust storms occur almost every year on the Red Planet and can last for up to three months, Pang said, noting that the Mars rover must have a strong storm-resistance system.

Because a dust storm could damage a rover's solar power system, a solution could be to use nuclear power, Pang said.

China's Mars orbiter will carry seven scientific devices, while the rover will have six.

"Although China's Mars mission has started late, we have a high starting point with the three-in-one design. And we are prepared to face the challenges," Pang noted.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1148416961056927745

Global Times✔@globaltimesnews

Chinese private rocket firm #GalacticEnergy breakthrough: carrier rocket Zhishenxing, a 40-ton engine powered by reusable liquid oxygen/kerosene, completed 7 ignition tests Fri to Sat, accumulated working time 380 seconds. Maximum single working time is 100 seconds.

10:21 AM - Jul 9, 2019

 

[JSCh]

Chinese rocket start-up aims at ‘SpaceX dominance’
By Huang Ge Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/9 21:53:40

Private firms inject thrust into country’s space industry: analysts

A multiple counterflow vortex unique configuration gas generator developed by Galactic Energy Photo: Courtesy to Galactic Energy Aerospace Technology Co

Beijing-based private rocket start-up Galactic Energy Aerospace Technology Co has made a breakthrough in its "Pallas" medium liquid-propellant rocket, a step closer to the firm's goal of forging a Chinese version of the Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by US spaceflight company SpaceX.

China's innovative private rocket start-ups have injected new impetus into the domestic space industry, but more efforts are needed for them to catch up with their US counterparts that have been growing for nearly two decades, industry analysts told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The gas generator, which helps provide thrust to the rocket's 40-ton engine that is powered by reusable liquid oxygen and kerosene, has completed seven ignition tests over the weekend, with an accumulated operation time of 380 seconds, according to Galactic Energy. The maximum single operation time lasted 100 seconds.

The company started developing the main rocket engine for the Pallas in December 2018, and it is the first Chinese rocket with engines that run on reusable liquid oxygen and kerosene.

Galactic Energy's products include the Pallas family of medium-sized liquid rockets, named Pallas, and small solid rockets named Ceres.

The Ceres-1 is aimed at the low-orbit commercial small satellite market and is expected to fly in March 2020. The Pallas-1 is expected to launch in December 2022.

Xia Dongkun, co-founder and vice president of Galactic Energy, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the rocket industry has been using the same design since the 1980s, but using proprietary technology, they have updated and developed an entirely new generator.

The firm aims to build a Chinese edition of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which is propelled by the Merlin family of engines and powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene.

Economies of scale, which mean cheaper launches, are crucial in the commercial space business, Xia said.

"In recent years, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has kept refreshing people's understanding of the commercial space industry. This enabled it to rapidly dominate the global commercial launch market thanks to its economies of scale," he said.

Galactic Energy is committed to "incorporating space resources into life" and to significantly reducing the cost of space launch services for domestic firms, Xia said, noting that market demand is the vital driving force for innovation in the sector.

Established in February 2018, Galactic Energy primary focus is low-cost commercial space launches and space resources exploitation.

The quick development of start-ups shows increasing vitality and innovative power in the domestic private commercial rocket market, which will boost the country's space industry, Huang Zhicheng, an expert on space technology, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

China's private commercial rocket firms are growing rapidly and seeing solid advances, although there are continuing challenges, analysts said.

The first 80-ton liquid-oxygen methane engine of the private LandSpace rocket, named Tianque, successfully completed trial tests in May.

Meanwhile, the development of China's private aerospace industry is still at an early stage compared with the US sector, Huang said, noting that the US private rocket firms, such as SpaceX that was set up in 2002, have grown into a more mature phase after the growth of many years.

Huang said that he expects Chinese private commercial rocket companies to focus first on technology research and development to bridge the gap with advanced firms in the world.

 

[JSCh]

China advances in payload fairing technology
By Chu Daye Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/10 18:23:41

A Long March-7 orbital launch vehicle carrying China's cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 is seen at its launch pad before it's scheduled launch in Wenchang, South China's Hainan Province. File photo: VCG

China successfully completed research on the world's largest separation airbag used by rockets, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Wednesday.

A Chinese space expert told the Global Times that the breakthrough will create a link that constitute China's next-generation heavy-lift rocket.

A research institute under the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp recently successfully tested the airbag, which is the world's longest, thickest and more resistant to high pressure. It will perform a key role in the payload fairing process during spaceflight.

The new airbag is six times the length of the current airbag and three times as thick, the report said. It can resist four times as much pressure as the current model.

The new part is designed to work with futuristic heavy-lift rockets. which have a bigger, heavier nose cone and are larger overall. This requires the airbag to be large enough to match the size of the rockets and sturdy enough to withstand the weight of the cones and the impact of the explosives that do the separation.

Huang Zhicheng, an expert on space technology, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the new technology is meant for the Long March-9, China's most powerful rocket being developed now.

"This is an important link among the various technological thresholds needed for such a heavy rocket," Huang said.

China's heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March-9, is expected to make its maiden flight around 2030 and will support manned lunar exploration, deep space exploration and construction of a space-based solar power plant.

The diameter of the body of the Long March-9 rocket will be nearly 10 meters, according to media reports.

Researchers made a breakthrough in methodology to ensure the stability of the airbag textile and in the selection technique of the material.

The successful research and development of the airbag will provide technological safeguards in the fairing process of Chinese heavy-haul carrier rockets, the Science and Technology Daily report said.

 

[JSCh]

China Focus: Earth's largest radio telescope to search for "new worlds" outside solar system
Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-11 18:26:23|Editor: ZX
by Xinhua writer Yu Fei

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- As well as hunting for signals from alien life, the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built will search for extra-solar planets, or exoplanets, which have magnetic fields like Earth, within 100 light-years from Earth.

Astronomers from countries including China and France recently published their ambitious observation plan using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in the academic journal Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Li Di, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of FAST, said scientists are more concerned about habitable planets, which should have not only water, a suitable temperature and atmosphere, but also magnetic field.

"The earth's magnetic field protects life from cosmic rays. There is a scientific bug in the sci-fi blockbuster 'The Wandering Earth,' that is, the earth stops rotating. If that happens, the magnetic field would disappear. Without the protection of the magnetic field, the earth's atmosphere would be blown off by the solar wind. As a result, humans and most living things would be exposed to the harsh cosmic environment and unable to survive," said Li.

Philippe Zarka, an astronomer from the Paris Observatory, said planets are the most favorable cradle of life. As of today, about 4,000 exoplanets have been found.

There are six magnetized planets in the solar system with a planetary-scale magnetic field: Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

"In our solar system, magnetized planets are strong radio sources. Radio detection of exoplanets aims at the physical characterization of exoplanets and comparative studies with solar system planets," said Zarka.

The first exoplanet was discovered near a pulsar by means of radio astronomy. But that is a very special case. Except for that, all the exoplanets found so far were discovered through optical astronomy or infrared imaging, according to Li.

Those discoveries have led scientists to believe that almost all the stars in the Milky Way have planets resolving around them. And there must be plenty of habitable planets.

"In our solar system, the high-energy charged particles in the solar wind and the electrons from some planets' moons would have interaction with the magnetosphere of planets, generating radio radiation," said Li.

"All the planets with magnetic fields in our solar system can be found generating such radiation, which can be measured and studied by radio telescopes. But research on the planets' magnetic fields cannot be realized through optical and infrared astronomical observation.

"Do the exoplanets have magnetic fields? If they have, they should also generate radio radiation under the influence of the wind of their parent stars," Li added.

Astronomers have been looking for radio signals from exoplanets, but with no discovery yet.

"We want to try with FAST, which is the world's most sensitive radio telescope. If we can for the first time detect the radio radiation of an exoplanet and confirm its magnetic field, it would be a very important discovery," said Li.

"If this observation window is opened, we would be able to study the laws of the magnetic fields of exoplanets and whether they are habitable in another aspect," he said.

Most exoplanets have been discovered by the U.S. Kepler space telescope. Those exoplanets are located away from Earth at a distance of more than 500 light-years.

In 2018, NASA launched a new planet-hunting satellite, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), to target exoplanets closer to Earth.

"If TESS could find a large number of exoplanets, and we also track them, the possibility of discovering exoplanets with magnetic fields will increase," Li said.

"We are looking for exoplanets within 100 light-years from Earth. Once such planets are found, it would be favorable for scientists to conduct a thorough study of them, and there is even possibility for interstellar migration."

Located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, FAST was completed in September 2016 and is due to start regular operations in September this year.

The performance of the telescope during commissioning is beyond imagination, said Li.

During testing and early operation, FAST started making astronomical discoveries, particularly of pulsars of various kinds, including millisecond pulsars, binaries and gamma-ray pulsars,

A team of astronomers from more than 10 countries and regions are making observation plans for FAST, in order to best apply the unprecedented power of the telescope, going beyond what has been done by other telescopes in the past.

They have proposed ambitious observation objectives through the telescope, such as gravitational waves, exoplanets, ultra-high energy cosmic rays and interstellar matter, to advance human knowledge of astronomy, astrophysics and fundamental physics.

"Planning new observations to find new targets and new kinds of objects beyond the reach of existing facilities is one of the most exciting jobs of a professional astronomer," Li said.

Scientists believe more discoveries that exceed expectations will be made with FAST.

"When such a powerful new telescope begins its scientific observations, unexpected signals and effects often emerge," Li said.

"As these observation projects will be launched over the next few years, FAST will have an impact on many areas of astronomy and astrophysics around the world. Although we cannot predict what it will discover, the telescope may profoundly change our understanding of the universe," Li added.

 

[JSCh]

China develops new generation recoverable satellite for commercial use
Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-11 17:50:21|Editor: Xiaoxia

The simulation photo shows the recoverable satellite SJ-10 working in space. (Xinhua/Chinese Academy of Sciences)

BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China is developing a new generation recoverable satellite for commercial use, which is expected to make its maiden flight in 2020, according to a space engineer.

Delivering a report at a science communication salon recently, Zhao Huiguang, chief designer of the recoverable satellite from the China Academy of Space Technology, said China's new generation recoverable satellite is able to return 500 kg to 600 kg payloads back to Earth from space.

So far, China has launched 25 recoverable satellites, and their usage is shifting from resources investigation to space science, according to Zhao.

China launched its 25th recoverable satellite, SJ-10, in April 2016, to carry out 19 space science experiments, including mice embryo development in space and thermocapillary convection experiments.

"Through that mission, we improved the recoverable satellite platform. Currently, our satellite is able to return 250 kg payloads back to Earth from space," Zhao said.

Scientific personnels work at the landing area of the re-entry capsule of the recoverable satellite SJ-10 in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, April 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing)

An investment report shows that the scale of the space microgravity industry in the development of new materials, electronic technology and biological pharmacy has increased rapidly in recent years, which means the commercial recoverable satellite has promising prospects, Zhao said.

He added that the functions of China's recoverable satellites can be further improved in fields such as carrying capacity, microgravity level, in-orbit experimental capacity, data service, power supply and duration of staying in orbit.

In the coming 10 years, China will launch 10 to 15 recoverable satellites to meet the demand of domestic and international customers, Zhao said.

 

[JSCh]

NEWS RELEASE 11-JUL-2019
New developments with Chinese satellites over the past decade
INSTITUTE OF ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Seventeen Chinese self-developed FengYun (FY) meteorological satellites have been launched, which are widely applied in weather analysis, numerical weather forecasting and climate prediction, as well as environment and disaster monitoring. Currently, 7 satellites are in operation.
CREDIT: National Satellite Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration

To date, 17 Chinese self-developed FengYun (FY) meteorological satellites have been launched, which are widely applied in weather analysis, numerical weather forecasting and climate prediction, as well as environment and disaster monitoring. Currently, seven satellites are in operation.

"The FY series satellite program has gone through four main stages," according to Dr. Peng Zheng, Deputy Director at the National Satellite Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration, and the first author of a recently published review (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-019-8215-x) . (Note: When the article was submitted for review in late 2018, eight FY satellites were in operation. One of them retired in March 2019.)

"The first stage primarily focused on research and development (R&D) of satellite technology. FY-1A operated for 39 days and FY-1B for 158 days. Meanwhile, FY-2A operated for about six months and FY-2B for about eight months.

In the second stage, the R&D satellites were transformed to operational ones. Since FY-1C in 1999 and FY-2C in 2004, FY satellites have been stable in orbit and capable of supporting continuous measurements in an operational manner.

In the third stage, the first-generation satellites were transformed to second-generation satellites. During the past decade, the new-generation FY polar and GEO satellites, FY-3A in 2008 and FY-4A in 2016, have been in operation. Advanced instruments capable of multiple types of measurements have been mounted on the platform of the new-generation FY satellites, including multiband optical imaging, atmospheric sounding, microwave imaging, hyperspectral trace gas detection, and full-band radiation budget measurement. The new epoch for comprehensive earth observations has begun.

The latest and current stage is focused on the accuracy and precision of satellite measurements. High performance in image navigation and radiometric calibration is essential to support various quantitative data applications, such as quantitative remote sensing and satellite data assimilation."

Dr. Zhang and his team--a group of researchers from the National Satellite Meteorological Center of China Meteorological Administration--have had their summary of Chinese meteorological satellites published in a special issue(https://link.springer.com/journal/376/36/9/page/1) of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences on the National Report (2011-2018) to the International Union on Geophysics and Geodesy (IUGG) Centennial by the China National Committee for IAMAS.

In this review paper, they report the latest progress, major achievements and future plans of Chinese meteorological satellites; particularly, the improvements in core data processing techniques including image navigation, radiometric calibration and validation, are addressed.

China has become one of few countries that maintain polar and geostationary meteorological satellites operationally. With the associated open data policy and stable and accurate measurements, the FY satellites are becoming an important component of the space-based global observing system. FY satellite data delivery services support direct broadcasting users, CMACAST users, and web portal users. Web portal users can obtain the data through an FTP push service, FTP pull service, or manual service. Users can access the data online (http://satellite.nsmc.org.cn/portalsite/default.aspx) after a quick and free-of-charge registration process.



New developments with Chinese satellites over the past decade | EurekAlert! Science News

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1149623777061265408

Translation:
Estimated CZ-5 new launch schedule.
CZ-5Y3 Shijian-20 satellite
2019-11 to 2020.2 (to be confirmed)
CZ5B launch rehearsal/drill
2020.4
CZ-5Y4 HX-1 Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover
2020.7.23-8.5
CZ-5BY1 China new generation crewed spacecraft test launch
2020.10
CZ-5Y5 Chang'e-5
2020.12.4-12.8
CZ-5BY2 China space station core module
possible 2021Q2

 

[JSCh]

China's Tiangong-2 to deorbit in July next year
CGTN
2018-09-26 10:20 GMT+8
Updated 2018-09-26 11:07 GMT+8

China's space lab, the Tiangong-2, will deorbit as planned in July 2019. The decision was announced during a press conference called by the China Manned Space Engineering Office on Wednesday.

“Tiangong-2 has fulfilled its mission during the two-year time, and all the loads are now in good condition," said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office. “It will be in orbit until July 2019, and then will be controlled to deorbit.”

The space lab, which has been in orbit for two years, was launched in 2016. It performed 14 projects and carried a 600 kg load.

China's Tiangong-2 space lab to re-enter atmosphere under control
Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-13 10:16:31|Editor: Xiang Bo

BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Tiangong-2 space lab is planned to be controlled to leave orbit and re-enter the atmosphere on July 19 (Beijing time), China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced on Saturday.

Most of the spacecraft will be burnt up in the atmosphere, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall in the safe sea area in the South Pacific (160-90 degrees west longitude and 30-45 degrees south latitude), according to CMSEO.

Tiangong-2, an improved version of Tiangong-1, is China's first space lab in real sense. Launched on September 15, 2016, the space lab has worked in orbit over 1,000 days, much longer than its 2-year designed life.

Comprising an experiment module and a resource module, the space lab has a total length of 10.4 meters, a largest diameter of 3.35 meters and a takeoff weight of 8.6 tonnes. After its solar panels are unfolded, its wingspan is about 18.4 meters wide. It has functions of rendezvous and docking with the Shenzhou manned spaceship and the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft.

China has carried out a series of scientific and technological space experiments, and tested the in-orbit propellant refueling technology on Tiangong-2.

All the experiments in the space lab have been completed. The spacecraft and the instruments on it are functioning well, said CMSEO.

Preparations for the controlled re-entry into atmosphere of Tiangong-2 are proceeding steadily as planned. China will timely report the information about the spacecraft after it re-enters the atmosphere to fulfill its international obligations, said CMSEO.

 

[BL33D]

Commentary: From nothing to glory in six decades - China's space program
Source: Xinhua 2016-10-07 18:08:18

BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- In China the number 60 is auspicious as it relates to a cyclic numeral system of the chronology. The past 60 years has seen China's space program develop from a concept to one success after another.

Saturday is the 60th anniversary of the beginning of China's space program. Over the past six decades, China has successfully developed its own processes and has become a space science power.

Like the United States and Russia, China's space program developed from advances in ballistic missile technology during the Cold War period. On Oct. 8, 1956, the Fifth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense was established, with Qian Xuesen at the helm.

A world-renowned rocket scientist and one of the co-founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Qian returned to China from the United States in 1955 and would become the "father of China's aerospace."

Since then, Oct. 8, 1956 has been called the starting point of China's space program.

With the dedication of engineers and scientists like Qian and thanks to the ever increasing national strength, China has taken its place as a member of the world's exclusive "space club" by achieving a number of great breakthroughs.

On April, 24, 1970, Dongfanghong-1 was sent into orbit, the country's first space satellite. Since 2016, this day has been called China Space Day.

On Oct. 15, 2003, Shenzhou-5, a manned spacecraft, successfully carried China's first taikonaut Yang Liwei into space, and on Dec. 15, 2013, the country's first moon rover successfully soft-landed on the lunar surface.

A total of 12 taikonauts have travelled in space. China has established the Beidou navigation and positioning system, and its Long March series of carrier rockets have been launched 236 times with a success rate of 97.5 percent.

Since the very beginning, China has understood that innovation was the only path to success.

Within the past 60 years, China has mastered a number of core technologies with completely independent intellectual property rights.

China's space program is now accelerating, but it has left its military roots behind. The future is science and exploration.

Last month, China's first space lab Tiangong-2 was successfully sent into orbit. It will dock with Shenzhou-11, the manned spacecraft, later this month so that taikonauts can live in the lab.

Its heavyload Long March-5 carrier rocket will blast off later this year. It shoulders the mission of sending China's space station into orbit around 2018. Deep space exploration is also on the agenda.

How about the next 60 years? As China's space program keeps growing, not even the sky is the limit.

Respect what China has done indigenously. And making their own Space Station whereas ISS required multiple countries. Commendable. India is slowly but surely catching up. China has been someone to look forward to and compete with in this area.

 

[JSCh]

‘Mars town’ in NW China to build 30 astronomical telescopes
By Shan Jie in Lenghu Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/12 20:43:40

The "Mars Camp" is located in Lenghu town, NW China's Qinghai Province, where the landscape resembles Mars. It has 68 sleeping capsules and makes you feel like you are on the red planet. Photo: Li Hao/GT

China is building a Mars-themed town in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, and 30 astronomical telescopes will be built.

Lenghu will be built into a Mars-themed town with scientific research, sci-fi culture and tourism in it, Tian Cairang, secretary of the Communist Party of China in Mangya, which administers Lenghu, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Lenghu, which means "cold lake" in Chinese, is located deep in the Gobi Desert and is known for its Mars-like landscape.

More than 30 astronomical telescopes will be built in Lenghu town, making it the largest in Asia, Tian said. The astronomical telescopes will be used for research by scientific institutes and universities.

Tian said Lenghu is ideal for observing space. "The sky is always clear here and astronomical observation conditions are also great," he said, "These are the key to astronomical telescopes."

The astronomical telescopes will be built on top of Saishiteng mountain about 4,200 meters above sea level. It takes two hours by car from the town center to the mountain top, including a one-and-a-half hour drive through rugged roads along the cliff.

The Global Times reporter on Friday saw workers level the ground on the mountain top as part of infrastructure construction for the astronomical telescopes.

As the pioneer of the Mars-town project, a "Mars Camp" was officially opened in Lenghu on March 1, aiming to attract tourists and inspire children's interest in astronomy. The Lenghu Sci-Fi Literature Prize was also launched in 2018.

Lenghu was used to be a key petroleum mine in Qinghai with a population of more than 120,000. But as the resource dried up in the 1980s, it gradually shrank into a town of only hundreds of residents.

 

[055_destroyer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1149623777061265408

Translation:
Estimated CZ-5 new launch schedule.
CZ-5Y3 Shijian-20 satellite
2019-11 to 2020.2 (to be confirmed)
CZ5B launch rehearsal/drill
2020.4
CZ-5Y4 HX-1 Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter and Small Rover
2020.7.23-8.5
CZ-5BY1 China new generation crewed spacecraft test launch
2020.10
CZ-5Y5 Chang'e-5
2020.12.4-12.8
CZ-5BY2 China space station core module
possible 2021Q2

They keep delaying and delaying Long March 5 launch date. Sometimes, CSA need to take some risk. There cannot be totally perfect. We learn from mistakes and risk needs to be taken. No more delay and just launch the new Long March 5 for testing.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1124428472628260869

​

LaunchStuff@LaunchStuff

While we're on the topic of Interstellar ________: In a recent article the VP of Interstellar Glory (iSpace) has said that their 4 stage solid fuel rocket, Hyperbola-1, will be heading to the launch site in late May. It will be carrying 7 payloads.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1151035469897043970

LaunchStuff@LaunchStuff

Hyperbola-1 was transported to Jiuquan for launch on July 6th. No info on launch date.

Info was released by Changan Automobile as this launch will be yet another car manufacturer/rocket manufacturer collab like the maiden Long March 11H was.

https://www.weibo.com/tv/v/HD9JFow8i?fid=1034:4393322114942675 …

 

[JSCh]

NEWS RELEASE 10-JUL-2019
Modeling early meteorite impacts on the moon
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

As our solar system was forming nearly four and a half billion years ago, a planet-sized object struck the early Earth, leading to the formation of the moon, possibly from a hot, spinning cloud of rock vapor called a synestia. But after the Earth and moon had condensed from the vapor, there was another phase of growth as meteorites crashed into both bodies.

Despite their common origin there are curious differences between the Earth and moon. Elements such as gold, iridium, platinum and palladium (known as highly siderophile or 'iron-loving' elements) are relatively scarce on the moon compared to Earth. Because these elements were delivered by meteorites, explanations for the difference put limits on how growth by meteorite bombardment unfolded over hundreds of millions of years. Understanding this problem is crucial to figuring out exactly what happened as the Earth and moon grew into the bodies we know today.

"This has been a major problem in terms of how we understand the Moon's accretion history," said Qing-zhu Yin, professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Davis.

Yin and an international group of collaborators have now carried out a detailed reconstruction that resolves the highly siderophile element problem and gives new insight into the late accretion history of the moon. Their results are published July 11 in the journal Nature.

Less retention of meteorite material

The researchers modeled the millions of meteor impacts that would have brought material to the Earth and moon. They validated their model by comparing the number of predicted impacts with the number of actual craters on the moon.

They found that because of the moon's smaller size, and because some impacts would be at a shallow angle to the surface, relatively less material was left behind by meteorites that hit the moon than by those hitting the Earth.

Yin and colleagues calculated that the siderophile elements would have been retained in the lunar crust and mantle only from about 4.35 billion years ago, later than previously thought and about the time that the magma ocean covering the moon solidified. Siderophile elements arriving before that time would have been absorbed into the moon's iron core.

Taken together, these factors account for the discrepancy in highly siderophile elements between Earth and moon.

"The beauty of this work is such that all of these things are now coming together nicely. We may have solved this problem, at least until someone find new discrepancies!" Yin said.


Modeling early meteorite impacts on the moon | EurekAlert! Science News

Meng-Hua Zhu, Natalia Artemieva, Alessandro Morbidelli, Qing-Zhu Yin, Harry Becker, Kai Wünnemann. Reconstructing the late-accretion history of the Moon. Nature, 2019; 571 (7764): 226 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1359-0​