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

[Galactic Penguin SST]

我国可重复使用试验航天器成功着陆

2020-09-06 10:48:24 来源： 新华网

　　新华社酒泉9月6日电（李国利、赵金龙）我国在酒泉卫星发射中心成功发射的可重复使用航天器，在轨飞行2天后，于9月6日成功返回预定着陆场。

　　这次试验的圆满成功，标志着我国可重复使用航天器技术研究取得重要突破，后续可为和平利用太空提供更加便捷、廉价的往返方式。

China’s reusable spacecraft, which was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Friday 4th September, successfully returned to its designated landing site on Sunday 6th September, marking a breakthrough in R&D for reusable spacecraft in the country.

http://web.archive.org/web/20200906094629/http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-09/06/c_1126458421.htm

https://archive.is/ErqHR

Last published orbital elements (TLE) before reentry:

PRC TEST SPACECRAFT
1 46389U 20063A 20249.96810878 .00011375 00000-0 71862-4 0 9990
2 46389 50.2062 57.4741 0011757 288.4665 218.9978 15.77064658 266
CZ-2F R/B
1 46390U 20063B 20249.81501367 .00012639 00000-0 77891-4 0 9998
2 46390 50.2044 58.2779 0015482 300.4688 59.4763 15.77433299 235
CZ-2F DEB
1 46391U 20063C 20250.21083411 .00068392 00000-0 11956-2 0 9995
2 46391 49.9030 56.9723 0160555 152.6921 19.5500 15.36899228 283
CZ-2F DEB
1 46392U 20063D 20249.84449116 .00086490 00000-0 12631-2 0 9991
2 46392 49.8674 58.7259 0117438 157.3850 203.2478 15.47189058 232
2020-063E
1 46393U 20063E 20249.70250279 .00133473 00000-0 11375-2 0 9995
2 46393 50.4196 58.8933 0108905 209.4582 150.0141 15.61136787 42
2020-063F
1 46394U 20063F 20249.70885857 .00107609 00000-0 12000-2 0 9990
2 46394 50.4615 58.8997 0115558 192.0341 167.7932 15.54069911 84

https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

​

Xinhua news agency reports Chinese reusable spacecraft has landed after two days in flight. No details on the landing time or landing site.

Time of the story is 0248 UTC so that sets an upper bound to the landing time.

One possible ground track passes over the Taklamakan desert around 0155 UTC. Another one passes over Gansu at 0020 UTC

Ground track of Chinese reusable spacecraft passes over airbase near Lop Nor nuclear test site at Sep 6 0155 UTC, consistent with probable landing time.

(Yellow line is ground track, about 20 km NW of airbase at 89.3E 40.8N)

Here's a zoom out showing the final 2 orbits; note the placemark for the airbase at the NE end of the Taklamakan desert

https://archive.vn/uAvgx/589cb279f1e15eecb14600564570ba9499ec7047.jpg ; https://archive.vn/uAvgx/a22ce0990d0df07ffb914ccd479c3f67d9a0f63d/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200906...cn/large/4e14d97cly1gigz91ttsoj20v70i1gsb.jpg ; https://m.weibo.cn/status/4546185052296330? ; https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1302486141090885632
▲ 1. #中国可重复使用试验航天器成功着陆# 最后降落地点应该就是这里
Ground track of Chinese reusable spacecraft passes over airbase near Lop Nor nuclear test site at Sep 6 0155 UTC, consistent with probable landing time.

https://archive.vn/oDggJ/45128db5d259f8c30b77e92db293e28098392487.jpg ; https://archive.vn/oDggJ/17b79ff757a45a3730ffd2215bda091f6fa95b0c/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200906...cn/large/4e14d97cly1gigz9331e3j20u01rcn74.jpg ; https://m.weibo.cn/status/4546185052296330? ; https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1302486141090885632
▲ 2. Ground track of Chinese reusable spacecraft passes over airbase near Lop Nor nuclear test site at Sep 6 0155 UTC, consistent with probable landing time.

https://archive.vn/90eDV/286fe5d29c97585624e67b58e639d8224d9ff47a.jpg ; https://archive.vn/90eDV/42a9beb13be8f06f0f42907f6805f76a7c0540a1/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200906...cn/large/4e14d97cly1gigz94b9zqj20u01rctgi.jpg ; https://m.weibo.cn/status/4546185052296330? ; https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1302486141090885632
▲ 3. Ground track of Chinese reusable spacecraft passes over airbase near Lop Nor nuclear test site at Sep 6 0155 UTC, consistent with probable landing time.

Speculation on the spacecraft

Interestingly, the fairing seems to be of the same height and diameter as on previous flights.

Some would therefore bet more on a lifting body vehicle (Space Rider) than a space plane (type X-37b). Of course they could be wrong.

Why this? Because the X-37b, from the top of its 5'000 kg, has a wingspan of 4.2 meters, too large to fit under the fairing of a CZ-2F/T (3.80 meters).

Especially since the Chinese vessel would weigh around 8'000 kg! The wings would therefore be far too large to fit under the fairing of CZ-2F/T.

So either the wings can be folded out, or it is a lifting body like the European IXV, without wings.

Or it uses a new fairing slightly larger than the 4.20 meter diameter of the CZ-2E.

Of course, this is only a guess, we have no information to date allowing us to decide for one or the other design.

Comparison by adding Tiangong-2's CZ-2F/T to the right. The fairings seem to be the same diameter. But the resolution is too poor to rule out a more than 4.2 meters one.

It appears that the spacecraft landed at the Lop Nor base, where the country's first nuclear bomb was detonated.

Note, however, that we do not know if the vessel has wheels, or if it landed like the IXV, with parachutes.

https://archive.vn/rHImC/f8e5f19e7f77a1a1b32c0e156017e4d158e95a20.jpg ; https://archive.vn/rHImC/c04e1bc8cd301fa8361fd42dd4ac40c39d46eab7/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200906100751/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhNJjx9WsAAxq7O?format=jpg&name=medium
▲ 4. Screen capture from actual launch footage.

https://archive.vn/9vuPK/0ced8a79622574576a1611a44cc314cebf0545fa.jpg ; https://archive.vn/9vuPK/253b39d54d3d77e48def914bd71b042fd00deafb/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200906101250/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhNPrOWWsAENRQW?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
▲ 5. Left: CZ-2F/T with space plane; Rigth: CZ-2/T launched with Tiangong-2

https://archive.vn/GSFbW/1b68d2e98d95997e6542abf3fb75bb37503829fc.jpg ; https://archive.vn/GSFbW/197dc5754f1f64d27489d1e1a2abca3e5ef07fd4/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200906101656/https://i.imgur.com/y8RneOY.jpg ; http://yqfile.alicdn.com/44d49bb249d6165fe0c4d395741d262c4bb35b15.jpeg ; https://bbs.meyet.net/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=321328&pid=3957646 ;
▲ 6. Chinese forum's speculation.


Conclusion

By sending its first ever space plane into orbit, China has beaten the European's Space Rider with an initial scheduled maiden flight no earlier than 2022.

Following China's first indigenous manned spacecraft Shenzhou-1, first indigenous astronaut Yang Liwei, first and secong space station Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2, first lunar lander Chang'e 3, first far side lunar lander Chang'e 4, first Mars Lander Tianwen-1, first reusable next generation 7 seaters spacecraft Yuanzhou-1, the space plane's launch completes two exceptional decades for the Chinese space industry, cementing further its world's second place as a space power, far ahead of Europe.

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Plague Inc: Evolved, Stalin V Martian

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Chinese Shenglong (神龙: Divine Dragon) spaceplane

From new data it is confirmed that the mysterious reusable Chinese spacecraft shares even more similarities with the U.S. Boeing X-37B. Although 60% more massive at 8'000 kg vs 5'000 kg.

Indeed the latest orbital elements show that a new object (ID# 2020-063G, Norad# 46395) has been catalogued, in a 332 x 348 km orbit.

Analysis suggests it was ejected from China's experimental spacecraft near 22:25 UT on the 5th, about two revolutions before landing.

This is similar to the X-37B OTV-6's service module attached to the aft end of the spaceplane, providing additional capacity for experiments and payloads.

Last published orbital elements (TLE) after reentry:

CZ-2F R/B
1 46390U 20063B 20250.76519084 .00013272 00000-0 81495-4 0 9998
2 46390 50.2061 53.2138 0015400 305.5506 54.4044 15.77460237 399
CZ-2F DEB Engine cover
1 46391U 20063C 20250.76502335 .00065164 00000-0 11369-2 0 9998
2 46391 49.9021 54.1742 0160544 155.1031 205.7771 15.36969468 375
CZ-2F DEB Engine cover
1 46392U 20063D 20250.74860633 .00083584 00000-0 12166-2 0 9997
2 46392 49.8678 54.0893 0117031 161.2419 199.2996 15.47335412 374
CZ-2F DEB Engine cover
1 46393U 20063E 20250.72652011 .00143410 00000-0 12072-2 0 9996
2 46393 50.4200 53.5919 0108520 213.7168 145.6812 15.61436414 208
CZ-2F DEB Engine cover
1 46394U 20063F 20250.73757445 .00103159 00000-0 11430-2 0 9998
2 46394 50.4625 53.6396 0115273 196.3346 163.4069 15.54276076 241
2020-063G
1 46395U 20063G 20251.14625497 .00008300 00000-0 54334-4 0 9990
2 46395 50.2070 51.2127 0011897 301.8453 58.1368 15.76722921 453

https://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt

​

In addition, the Chinese Lop Nor runways are similar in lenght and orientation to those used by the X-37B at Vandenberg and Edwards Air Force Base, both of 5 km long, with extension to 8 km long.

https://archive.is/aMPjP/252c4064d4717d10308b4d4086f839a372d3afa0.jpg ; https://archive.is/aMPjP/4a14f05b707e4ce7f60ac26912e15dfd6cbcabb7/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200907124040/https://i.imgur.com/oCBsMlW.jpg
▲ 1. Chinese Lop Nor runways compared to Edwards Air Force Base.

Milestone of the 神龙 Shenglong spaceplane

This indicates that the mysterious reusable Chinese spacecraft looks like an uprated X-37B spaceplane.

• First drop test flight : 11 December 2007
• First suborbital flight : 8 January 2011
• First orbital flight : 4 September 2020

Moreover, according to some Chinese space forums, it is expected that future tests will include the spaceplane being launch on top of a larger aircraft acting as a carrier aircraft, but excluding the AN-224.

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Plague Inc: Evolved, Stalin V Martian

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1302917319702835201

 

[JSCh]

Nation Planning Scientific Station on the Moon
Editor: LIU Jia | Sep 09, 2020

China plans to establish a scientific station on the moon and has started preparatory research, according to a key figure in the country's lunar exploration program.

"The next steps in our lunar exploration endeavor will be challenging and demanding as we aim to set up a scientific outpost on the moon's south pole. In the near future, we will also send our astronauts to land on the moon," said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

He is now working on the planning and feasibility research on the proposed station and the lunar program's fourth step.

The scientist made the remarks at a ceremony on Tuesday at the China National Space Administration that announced the naming of an asteroid after him.

The asteroid was discovered in August 2007 by researchers at the Xuyi Station in Jiangsu province's Xuyi county, which belongs to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing.

The move was approved by the International Astronomical Union in June to honor his significant contribution to China's lunar and deep-space exploration programs.

In China's most recent lunar mission, the Chang'e 4 robotic probe, which consists of an unmovable lander and a rover named Yutu 2, was lifted atop a Long March 3B carrier rocket in December 2018 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, marking the country's fourth lunar exploration and the world's first expedition to the far side of the moon, which never faces Earth.

The probe made a soft landing on the far side on Jan 3, 2019, and then released Yutu 2 to roam and survey the landing site in the South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest and deepest known basin in the solar system.

So far, the lander and rover have operated for more than 610 days. As the world's longest operational lunar rover, Yutu 2 has traveled about 520 meters on the lunar soil, according to the space administration.

The Chang'e 4 mission has produced a great deal of scientific results that have helped scientists around the globe deepen their knowledge and understanding about the silver sphere.

It has revealed the history of impact incidents on the moon's far side, especially the South Pole-Aitken basin, and found crucial evidence to support the formation and evolution models of the lunar soil, said Wang Chi, director of the National Space Science Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (China Daily)


Nation Planning Scientific Station on the Moon----Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Chinese Shenglong (神龙: Divine Dragon) Spaceplane Imaged On Lop Nor PLAAFB Runway

September 9, 2020 at 2:48 PM ET

A commercial satellite photo may reveal a new Chinese space plane just moments after it landed at a remote site on the western side of China.

The photo, which is too low resolution to be conclusive, was snapped by the San Francisco-based company Planet. It shows what could be the classified Chinese spacecraft on a long runway, along with several support vehicles lined up nearby.

Official statements by China's official Xinhua news agency said only that a Long March 2F rocket had carried a "reusable experimental spacecraft" into orbit and that the launch and landing were successful. The landing took place on Sept. 6 at almost the exact time the photo was snapped by the passing satellite.

New Chinese Space Plane Landed At Mysterious Air Base, Evidence Suggests

The mission took place this past weekend, shrouded in secrecy, but some clues are emerging about what China sent into space, and why.

web.archive.org

https://archive.vn/9EbRY

https://archive.is/e3vFg/903be2df143cec4500606fbb61d87bda8d9a56fb.jpg ; https://archive.is/e3vFg/f3eb5129e3a2e3031b667b686cfad96f67d09ce8/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200909224833/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhfwwQ2XgAAXZIA?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200909...nded-at-mysterious-air-base-evidence-suggests ; https://archive.vn/9EbRY
▲ 1. A photo snapped by a passing commercial satellite shows objects on the airstrip at 10:11 a.m. local time on Sept. 6, just minutes after a scheduled landing would have occurred.

Finally, the same source hints at the most likely use for this new PLA Space Force's asset, as revealed in the groundbreaking 2017 movie Salyut-7.

The U.S. space shuttle program being a space Trojan Horse, as 'civilian' as a smokescreen can be, to steal Soviet space assets.

And as a remake of the Project Azorian, a clumsy U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) project to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129 from the Pacific Ocean floor in 1974 with all the R-21 nuclear missile and cryptological documents and equipment, under the cover of mining the sea floor for manganese nodules using the purpose-built ship Hughes Glomar Explorer.

Today's billionaire Elon Musk is replacing the then American business magnate Howard Hughes to field ever more Trojan Horses, this time the 1980s Star Wars renamed Starlink, with the use of Falcon-9 rockets replacing the ship Hughes Glomar Explorer!

A central part of the film's plot is the idea that NASA was conducting a mission to recover the disabled Salyut 7 to steal Soviet secrets with Space Shuttle Challenger, returning the station to Earth inside the shuttle's cargo bay. The film ends with a fictitious scene showing Challenger rendezvousing with the Salyut 7 station, and the astronauts onboard saluting the cosmonauts on Salyut 7 who were on an emergency EVA to fix the station's solar sensor. This plot possible originates in a similar theory set forth by The Battle for Salyut: A Space Detective a Russian documentary which was created by a media branch of Roskosmos. Jean-Loup Chrétien who flew on both Franco-Soviet and then later Franco-American space missions, serves as the inspiration for the French astronaut sent on the American mission to recover Salyut 7 in the film. Jean-Loup was indeed on the backup crew of the STS-51-G flight of Space Shuttle Discovery that was launched 11 days after the start of Soyuz T-13 on June 17, 1985.

Salyut 7 (film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

​

https://archive.vn/9eKs5/9cd052595d6fec5b09b4e6b858e5a59ae3fdc26c.webp ; https://archive.vn/9eKs5/73db5fbd8e045171d188f414374cd0f21c5a209b/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200909...anio.com/view/photo/l/public/p2506847184.webp ; https://movie.douban.com/subject/27073291/ ; https://movie.douban.com/subject/27073291/all_photos
▲ 2. The most likely use for this new PLA Space Force's asset, as revealed in the ground breaking 2017 movie Salyut-7.

Only this time, unlike the Soviet Red Army, the PLA is ready to counter the U.S. reckless move! Do not even think about stealing Chinese space assets or face the consequences!

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), Salyut-7 Салют-7 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Age of Empire III, Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Plague Inc: Evolved, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Stalin V Martian, Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon

 

[JSCh]

Strongest Magnetic Field in Universe Directly Detected by Insight-HXMT----Chinese Academy of Sciences
Editor: LIU Jia | Sep 09, 2020

The Insight-HXMT team has performed extensive observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar GRO J1008-57 and has discovered a magnetic field of ~1 billion Tesla on the surface of the neutron star. This is so far the strongest magnetic field conclusively detected in the universe. This work, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was primarily conducted by scientists from the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany.

Scientists studied the X-ray pulsar GRO J1008-57 detected by Insight-HXMT during its outburst in August 2017. They discovered for the first time a cyclotron resonant scattering feature (CRSF) at 90 keV at a significance level of > 20σ. (Note that the scientific community confirms a new scientific discovery when its significance level is larger than 5σ.) According to theoretical calculations, the magnetic field that corresponds to this CRSF is up to one billion Tesla, which is tens of millions of times stronger than what can be generated in Earth laboratories.

Insight-HXMT is the first Chinese X-ray astronomical satellite. It comprises scientific payloads including a high-energy telescope, a medium-energy telescope, a low-energy telescope, and a space environment monitor. Compared with other X-ray satellites, Insight-HXMT has outstanding advantages in the detection of cyclotron lines (especially at high energies) due to its broadband (1-250keV) spectral coverage, large effective area at high energies, high time resolution, low dead time and negligible pile-up effects for bright sources.

Neutron stars have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe. Neutron star X-ray binaries are systems consisting of a neutron star and a normal stellar companion. The neutron star accretes matter and forms a surrounding accretion disk. If the magnetic field is strong, the accreted matter is channeled by magnetic lines onto the surface of the neutron star, resulting in X-ray radiations.

As a result, these sources are also called "pulsars." Previous studies have shown that a peculiar absorption feature (known as a "cyclotron resonant scattering feature") can sometimes be found in the spectrum of X-ray pulsars. Scientists believe this is caused by transitions between the discrete Landau levels of electronic motion perpendicular to the magnetic field. Such a scattering feature acts as a direct probe to the magnetic field near the neutron star's surface.

Insight-HXMT was proposed by IHEP in 1993 and was successfully launched in June 2017. IHEP is responsible for scientific payloads, ground segments and scientific research involving this satellite.

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

CZ-2F/SL (Shenlong, 神龙: Divine Dragon) Payload Fairing

Official image confirms my previous assessment on a possible use of a new larger payload fairing.

Instead of the 3.80 meter diameter fairing used on previous CZ-2F/T for launching the Tiangong series space stations, and the 4.2 meter of the CZ-2E launcher, the new CZ-2F/SL launcher shows an increased fairing's diameter.

Photogrammetric analysis of the newly released picture reveal a diameter even larger of 4.4 meters diameter.

https://archive.is/x568C/1bf4b491236957133e9c551f5fd0eb3c8a6f5f02.jpg ; https://archive.is/x568C/ba1a800003f84bdff60a7ed08a6d59913668994b/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200910134826/https://i.imgur.com/plTS1uD.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200910...8025/n2641611/n4518442/c15488225/content.html ; https://archive.vn/reGVK
▲ 1. CZ-2F/SL rocket using a new payload fairing of 4.4 m diameter.

This probably indicates that a winged space plane such as Shenlong was inside the payload fairing, the U.S. X-37B having a wingspan of about 4.5 meters.

https://archive.is/u4cO0/9116a9eb0d4112ad2537118e50d2682d9f512c23.jpg ; https://archive.is/u4cO0/1ee635810c080a2d5f0eaf0400c1a688d7271382/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200910225107/https://i.imgur.com/iCdIZhq.jpg
▲ 2. CZ-2F space launchers family.

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), Salyut-7 Салют-7 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Age of Empire III, Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Plague Inc: Evolved, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Stalin V Martian, Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

CZ-2F/T3 (Shenlong, 神龙: Divine Dragon) Commemorative Envelope

The China Aerospace Philatelic Association has printed a commemorative envelope featuring the Long March 2F/T3 rocket, that launched the Shenlong reusable experimental spacecraft.

https://archive.is/EF0FE/7034c0629481abbba0b41975492b231862986e93.jpg ; https://archive.is/EF0FE/887468918c628cfecfaf59dabed42222f0864af0/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200913161004/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhhZkEmWsAUkAJn?format=jpg&name=900x900
▲ 1. Commemorative envelope featuring the Long March 2F/T3 rocket.

Radio Transmission From Object [2020-063G]

But before landing, on September 5 at about 22:25 UTC, a new object separated from the China Experimental Spacecraft. It was catalogued number 46395 (2020-063G) by the North American Aerospace Command. Experts speculated that this could be a spaceship's orbital compartment or a solar array.

Some radio amateur started searching for signals from this unit on all possible radio ranges.

And now, after 7 days, the automatic signal search system (during the processing of 4 TB of data) gave a notification about the detection of two unidentified signals emanating from a released object in two different orbits pass.

On September 14, 2020, by starting to check this notification it was found that the new cataloged object was transmitting at 2280.000 MHz and 4000 kHz channel. The signal is stable enough, although sometimes intermittently.

From this we can conclude that the object may have a stabilization system, which is inherent in the spacecraft. Further observations will show this.

https://archive.is/RNTbE/773a0ad413f1e915567c9046f3129098cab9ca9f.png ; https://archive.is/RNTbE/a42ae54c6fca100f43bad3d8d071cf2de965ec4b/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200914152651/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eh3IYAmX0AMFgPI?format=png&name=900x900 ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200914...eskogo-apparata-kitaya-yavlyaetsya-sputnikom/ ; https://archive.vn/bjJkt
▲ 2. Radio Transmissions From Object [2020-063G].

https://archive.vn/XK8bs/ee9fbd1174e84046affc6666d033e06d3608362f.jpg ; https://archive.vn/XK8bs/566d91968cac3e97e200acddde5190e433e78801/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200914152741/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eh3I2IIXgAEY3JI?format=jpg&name=large
▲ 3. Artistic rendering of Shenlong in LEO.

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), Salyut-7 Салют-7 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Age of Empire III, Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Plague Inc: Evolved, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Stalin V Martian, Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Shenlong (神龙: Divine Dragon) Released A Satellite Into LEO 可重复使用航天器释放卫星


It is confirmed that before landing, on September 5 at about 22:25 UTC, a new object separated from the China Experimental Spacecraft. It was catalogued number 46395 (2020-063G) by the North American Aerospace Command. Experts speculated that this could be a spaceship's orbital compartment or a solar array.

According to this Chinese video from a TV program, it was indeed a satellite, while citing the same foreign website (美国空间新闻网站) as the source.

Thus achieving three main goals of the spaceplane's mission:

• Reusable spaceplane tested in orbit for 2 days
• Release of a satellite in orbit
• Reusable spaceplane landing on a runway

According to the same document 'Space delivery systems 2017-2045 Roadmap', released on November 2017:

• Reusable spaceplane first orbital test by 2020
• Reusable suborbital carrier aircraft to be tested by 2025
• Reusable carrier rocket to be tested by 2035

Meaning that there are two combinations of carrier for this spaceplane: winged horizontal take off and vertical rocket launched.

一次发射完成三大任务！国产新型航天器疑在轨释放卫星，成功着陆
2020-09-14 03:59:23

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Yp4y1e7Mu

https://archive.is/9qXLw/ac4024b7f430444a05058c09ee1a2785b3992017/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200915...020/0915/402c7695p00qgovpt00ekd000lu00ffp.png ; http://dingyue.ws.126.net/2020/0915/402c7695p00qgovpt00ekd000lu00ffp.png ; https://bbs.meyet.net/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=321328&pid=3958572
▲ 1. Shenlong (神龙: Divine Dragon) Released A Satellite Into LEO 可重复使用航天器释放卫星

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), Salyut-7 Салют-7 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Age of Empire III, Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Plague Inc: Evolved, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Stalin V Martian, Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1306811738835230727

Global Times @globaltimesnews
China state-affiliated media

#China plans to develop a super heavy-lift launch vehicle for its future manned lunar landing project. Its launch capability is expected to reach 70 ton to the Low Earth Orbit: Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief designer of China Manned Space projects. (Photo: Deng Xiaoci/GT)


12:26 PM · Sep 18, 2020

 

[JSCh]

Heat-resistant materials, power integration design among China’s astronomical research focuses
By Deng Xiaoci in Fuzhou Source: Global Times Published: 2020/9/18 13:00:17

Photo: Deng Xiaoci/GT

Study into heat-resistant materials for reusable aerospace vehicles and horizontal take-off and landing vehicle’s integration design with hybrid power have been named in the Top 10 “hot spot scientific issues and technical puzzles” for 2020 in the astronomical domain, coming only a few days after the safe return of China's new homegrown reusable spacecraft in early September, the Global Times learned on Friday at the China Space Conference.

The list of China’s scientific study directions was released on Friday at the event held in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian Province by Wang Wei, an academician with the China Academy of Sciences and director of the research and department with China’s state-owned aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Cooperation.

Photo: Deng Xiaoci/GT

Heat resistant materials are a decisive factor in determining the capability and life expediency of a reusable aerospace vehicle, according to Wang, who stressed that breakthroughs on such materials would provide the foundation for the advancement, reliability and cost-friendliness of future aerospace vehicles.

Photo: Deng Xiaoci/GT

Level take-off and landing vehicles are expected to be a low-cost, highly capable and highly reliable transport solution for return trips to space. Studying the design for power integration with such vehicles is key to supporting the future development and application of the space-Earth shuttle system, which is expected to significantly enhance China’s capability to freely enter and exit from space.

China launched a reusable spacecraft on September 4 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center using a Long March-2F launch vehicle. After two days of orbital flight, the vehicle made a safe landing on the designated site on September 6. However, no details on the spacecraft’s measurements – not even its name – have been made public so far.

Despite keeping a low profile, news of the reusable spacecraft gained a great deal of attention and led to speculation, with many, such as space.com, the New York-based source of space news, believing that the flight mission was related to China's space plane project.

Many foreign reports and Chinese netizens have been drawing comparisons between the unnamed vehicle – if it is a fixed wing space plane – and the X-37B space plane owned by the US Air Force.

Nuclear power spacecraft and engineering applications are also among the top topics, aiming to ease human exploration across the solar system.

 

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1306866967584727040

Global Times @globaltimesnews
China state-affiliated media

China plans to build an unmanned research base at the moon's South Pole in collaboration with Russian and European space agencies as well as the countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes and BRICS countries: Yu

Global Times @globaltimesnews
China state-affiliated media

China will launch Chang'e-5 – the country's robotic "collect and return" lunar exploration mission – before the end of 2020: Yu Dengyun, deputy chief architect of China's lunar missions.




4:05 PM · Sep 18, 2020

 

[JSCh]

↑↑↑

https://twitter.com/x/status/1118903313968390144

Andrew Jones@AJ_FI

A CNSA announcement today makes clear that China has approved a very ambitious asteroid/comet mission. It will collect samples from near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 & deliver them to Earth then head to main belt comet 133P via Mars flyby. That profile calls for launch in 2022.

11:45 PM - Apr 18, 2019

​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1307145391335383040

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

China's New Manned Space Launchers

Disclosed at the 18 September 2020 Fuzhou China Space Conference.

2 type of space planes, 3 type of manned space rockets.

https://archive.vn/iWWx6/d3cfd86e3776ec1e4d70435bd5b661248b2ff478.jpg ; https://archive.vn/iWWx6/a02d7911359441616bfe9ae8b28b24b64250b12d/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200919025112/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiMDxGVWsAEqk1n?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 ; https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1306896780634750978/photo/1
▲ 1. New 7 seaters Yuanzhou manned spacecraft with the addition of several ejection motors and 4 airfins, improved design compared to the previous reentry model flown and returned on May 2020.

https://archive.vn/cofpA/1a40b23e775825f07ed627dfe9385a39175fca8b.jpg ; https://archive.vn/cofpA/c2589c0ac23cff5a04f18d6c9d8360ecbfdf852a/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200919025144/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiMCkqIWAAAaQ8u?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 ; https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1306896767871594498/photo/1
▲ 2. The new manned launcher associated with the 7 seaters Yuanzhou spacecraft, in the beyond CSS orbit configuration, made of 3 first stages core boosters powered each by 7 Kerolox YF-100K engines. CZ-9 is confirmed to NOT be a manned launcher.

https://archive.vn/3KefG/cfc3c05df5ce863a8b25506e25be2e6760ffae3b.jpg ; https://archive.vn/3KefG/9f4fdd9dddc03a1b71f580a3d36b8fad729cff47/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200919025218/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiMGLS-WsAEppSS?format=jpg&name=large ; https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1306896794090115073/photo/1
▲ 3. Roadmap of China's manned space launcher 2017-2045. By 2045 fully reusable up to 100 times, 99.5% reliable, 12 hours between each flight, vertical take off, horizontal landing.

https://archive.vn/oUbxU/060fbf8e8510eaa61c6df1eedcd90e9be4007c09.jpg ; https://archive.vn/oUbxU/fc9bbdc899ed3f076d02cba6f1dbdff230fcab93/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200919025249/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiGT63DWkAE06W8?format=jpg&name=large ; https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1306488013543944193/photo/1
▲ 4. The new manned launcher associated with the 7 seaters Yuanzhou spacecraft, in the CSS orbit configuration made of one first stage core booster, and in the beyond CSS orbit configuration, made of 3 first stages core boosters powered each by 7 Kerolox YF-100K engines.

https://archive.vn/4uab1/360d0acc9cdbb487c282ee505c1e836bd9db9993.jpg ; https://archive.vn/4uab1/0bbd5352bb536f70b51f7e5e35b00cd4c99b53fd/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200919025332/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiGT63JWoAMGjyZ?format=jpg&name=large ; https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1306488013543944193/photo/2
▲ 5. The new manned launcher associated with the 7 seaters Yuanzhou spacecraft, in the CSS orbit configuration made of one first stage core booster, and in the beyond CSS orbit configuration, made of 3 first stages core boosters powered each by 7 Kerolox YF-100K engines.

https://archive.vn/mv8sa/08e0db9b6658b154ed20f20fee8add0a010a45fa.jpg ; https://archive.vn/mv8sa/cd83768c2846fcade65eed147decc999cbfe5657/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200919025419/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiGT63qXcAARMsn?format=jpg&name=large ; https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1306488013543944193/photo/3
▲ 6. China's third new manned space launcher, made of 5 core boosters, each powered by 4 engines. Core booster diameter is 3.8 meter.

TAGS:

Spaceship One Starts 《Weltraumschiff 1 startet...》 (1937), Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle of the Japan Sea 日本海大海戦 (1969), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Hero Zheng Chengong 英雄郑成功（潇湘福建2001） (2002), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean ローレライ (2005), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Little Fish (2005), Turks in Space 《Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam'in Oglu》 (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), Democrazy (2007), Philosophy of a Knife (2008), My Way 《마이 웨이》 (2011), Contagion (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Host (2013), Movie 43 (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Carol (2015), Manifesto (2015), Lost in the Pacific 蒸发太平洋 (2016), Sky Hunter 《空天猎》 (2017), Salyut-7 Салют-7 (2017), High Life (2018), Tik Tik Tik 《டிக் டிக் டிக்》 (2018), Crazy Alien 疯狂的外星人 (2019), Ad Astra (2019), The Wandering Earth 流浪地球 (2019), Ananda : Rise of Notra (2019), The Matrix 4 (2022)

TAGS:
Age of Empire III, Hearts Of Iron II, Hearts Of Iron IV, Plague Inc: Evolved, Rebel Inc: Escalation, Stalin V Martian, Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon

 

[JSCh]

Insight-HXMT Discovers Closest High-speed Jet to Black Hole----Chinese Academy of Sciences
Editor: LIU Jia | Sep 22, 2020

Insight-HXMT, China's first space X-ray astronomical satellite, has discovered a low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) above 200 kiloelectron volts (keV) in a black hole binary, making it the highest energy low-frequency QPO ever found. The scientists also found that the QPO originated from the precession of a relativistic jet (high-speed outward-moving plasma stream) near the event horizon of the black hole. These discoveries have important implications for resolving the long-running debate about the physical origin of low-frequency QPOs.

This work, published online in Nature Astronomy on Sept. 21, was primarily conducted by scientists from the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the University of Southampton (United Kingdom), Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (Germany), and the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of CAS.

Low-frequency QPOs, discovered in the 1980s, are a common observational timing feature in transient black hole binaries. They are quasi-periodic, but not precisely periodic, modulations in light curves. For more than 30 years, the origin of low-frequency QPOs was not understood. The two most popular models explaining their origin are: 1) the oscillations are caused by the instability of the accretion disk when matter rotates around and finally falls into the black hole; and 2) the quasi-periodic X-ray modulations are produced by the oscillation or precession of the coronal X-ray emitting region close to the black hole.

Before the era of Insight-HXMT, X-ray satellites could only detect and study low-frequency QPOs below 30 keV; thus, it was difficult to test these models. Insight-HXMT, in contrast, has a wide effective energy range of 1-250 keV and has the largest effective area above 30 keV. Therefore, after Insight-HXMT was launched, scientists expected it would detect rich low-frequency QPOs above 30 keV, and thus be able to fully test previous models.

The new black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070, consisting of a black hole of several solar masses and a companion star, started to undergo an outburst on March 11, 2018. It has been one of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky for a long time. Insight-HXMT quickly responded and performed high-cadence pointing observations on this source for several months, accumulating a huge amount of observational data.

Based on these data, the scientists found that the low-frequency QPO of MAXI J1820+070 appeared in a wide energy range and its maximum detection energy exceeded 200 keV, which is almost an order of magnitude higher than previous QPOs observed by other telescopes, indicating that the QPO could not come from the thermal radiation region of the accretion disk. Further studies revealed that the frequency and variability amplitude of the QPO are energy independent and the high-energy QPO precedes the low-energy one.

These results unambiguously conflicted with most currently existing models. Therefore, the scientists proposed that the low-frequency QPO was produced by the precession of a jet near the black hole's event horizon; the precession was probably caused by the frame-dragging effect of general relativity, generated by the rotation of the black hole.

Jets are high-speed matter streams moving at close to the speed of light. Plenty of jets have been observed in black hole binaries and distant quasars hosting supermassive black holes (i.e., those of millions to tens of billions of solar masses) in the radio, optical and X-ray bands. Jets are an important observational characteristic of black hole systems, and are the main means by which black holes influence the surrounding environment via feedback when swallowing nearby matter.

However, these jets are far from black holes. They are usually located at a distance of more than a million times the black hole’s event horizon. At such a long distance, the black hole’s gravitational force actually has no effect. Therefore, it is unclear where these jets are generated, how far they are from the black holes, how they can escape from the strong gravitational field of the black holes and how they are accelerated to a speed close to the speed of light.

Insight-HXMT's discovery is particularly important because it’s the first time a jet has been found only hundreds of kilometers away from a black hole (i.e., several times the black hole’s event horizon). As the closest relativistic jet observed in a black hole so far, the finding is of great significance for studying the relativistic effects, dynamical processes and radiation mechanisms.

The Institute of High Energy Physics proposed the Insight-HXMT satellite project and leads the development of its payloads, ground application system and scientific research. The China Academy of Space Technology, Tsinghua University, the National Space Science Center of CAS and Beijing Normal University have also participated in the project and have made important contributions.

Insight-HXMT discovers QPO generated in the closest jet to the black hole (Image by IHEP)​