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

[ahojunk]

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.

 

[lcloo]

Regarding Qian Xuesen, below is a brief extract from Wikipedia, on interrogation of Nazi rocket scientist von Braun by Qian in Germany . Von Braun later went to US became father of US space program.


Von Kármán wrote of Qian, "At the age of 36, he was an undisputed genius whose work was providing an enormous impetus to advances in high-speed aerodynamics and jet propulsion."[2] Furthermore, the American journal Aviation Week & Space Technology named Qian its Person of the Year in 2007, and commented on his interrogation of von Braun, "No one then knew that the father of the future U.S. space program was being quizzed by the father of the future Chinese space program."[12]

 

[grey boy 2]

New company set up to develop space economy
By Leng Shumei (Global Times) 08:24, October 21, 2016

The commercialization of rocket launches will boost the industry by bringing space tourism income and attracting private investment, experts said.

ChinaRocket Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country's largest developer of ballistic missiles and carrier rockets, was established on Wednesday, marking the commercialization of China's space industry, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Chinese commercial space enterprises are lagging behind the global market due to lack of complete production chain in the commercial space industry and experience in commercial space activities like space tourism," Li Hong, president of the academy, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"Commercializing rocket launches will help develop the industry as many private companies will be interested in the sector," Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Science of Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Jiao said the establishment of the company signals that State-controlled space industry is stepping into ordinary people's daily life.

Han Qingping, president of ChinaRocket, said at the press conference that the company would focus on keeping the cost 30 percent lower than an average launch through the "standardization of the interface between satellite and rocket as well as advance preparation."

According to Han, China will develop reusable sub-orbital vehicles in five to 10 years.

Han said the company will launch individual space travel services like "space taxi, free space ride and space shuttle bus" to promote the space economy.

According to Xinhua, ChinaRocket's individual space travel package would cost about $200,000.

Huang Jun, a professor at the School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering at Beihang University, said that "many countries have been studying the reusability of carrier devices and aircraft, but it will take at least one to two decades before visitors can afford a space trip."


The market value of commercial space in China would reach 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) annually by 2020, Xinhua reported, citing Hu Shengyun, a senior rocket engineer at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/1021/c90000-9130566.html

 

[beijingwalker]

Chinese astronauts grow space lettuce for the first time

 

[ahojunk]

Space exploration program launched
2016-12-02 08:47 | China Daily | Editor: Xu Shanshan

Researchers are already submitting ideas for projects for the 14th and 15th Five-Year Plan

The National Space Science Center affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences has officially launched a program consisting of five space exploration projects to be accomplished during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

The projects involve a series of satellites and a spacecraft to study solar-geophysical activity, the water cycle on Earth, and cosmogenic origin of black holes, gravitational waves and gamma-ray bursts.

"President Xi Jinping spoke of the importance of space exploration at a major sci-tech conference on May 30. It is necessary to promote the all-round development of space science, space technology and space applications via initiating these projects," said Xiang Libin, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The five projects were selected from a number of candidates sponsored by the academy's Strategic Priority Program on Space Science over the past five years.

"Under the State-funded Strategic Priority Program, we have already launched three satellites into space, achieving significant research results, which will be released in the coming few months," Xiang said.

China's first Dark Matter Particle Explorer satellite was launched in December last year, followed by the Shijian 10 satellite, which was launched and recovered in April, and the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale satellite that was launched in August.

"The research, design, production and launch of scientific satellites are a prolonged process that usually takes five to 10 years. A program that provides continuous support to promising projects means space scientists across the country are given a stable channel to demonstrate their ideas step by step," Xiang said.

The center has also begun soliciting research ideas from all space science institutes across China.

Researchers are able to submit an introduction to their research ideas to the center by the end of December. After the first round of expert reviews, the ideas with prospects for study will receive grants from the center for up to six months of in-depth study to form detailed research plans, some of which will be chosen as candidates for the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) or 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) on space exploration.

"The primary criteria for selecting a candidate project is the prospect of scientific achievement," said Wu Ji, director of the National Space Science Center.

According to Wu, international research frontiers include cosmogenic origin and solar-geophysical activity.

"However, this is a bottom-up application process instead of a top-down deployment process, which means we have no intention of starting projects that cover all international frontiers. We will only chose projects that Chinese scientists have an interest in and research capabilities to perform," he said.

The satellites, when launched, will work in coordination with scientific facilities on Earth.

"For example, we have sent some researchers to work with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory－which detected gravitational waves in February－in the United States. In the future, once waves are detected on the ground, we will turn our satellite immediately in the given direction to obtain more accurate data," Wu said.


********

This is a very good development for space exploration in China.
.

 

[JSCh]

Space exploration plans unveiled
(Xinhua) Dec 02, 2016

The Einstein Probe satellite that will carry two X-ray telescopes of differing sensitivities to search for black holes, gravitational waves, gamma-ray bursts and other phenomena.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Space Science Center has officially unveiled five space exploration plans to be accomplished during the 13th Five Year Plan period (2016-20).

These include

+ an Einstein Probe satellite that will carry two X-ray telescopes of differing sensitivities to search for black holes, gravitational waves, gamma-ray bursts and other phenomena;

+ an Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory to study the relationships between solar magnetic fields, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections;

+ a Water Cycle Observation Mission to improve scientists' understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of the water cycle and related physical processes, as well as how the water cycle responds to global changes;

+ the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Small Satellite Constellation Exploration Plan, comprised of four small satellites in different orbits that will traverse the polar regions at the same time but at different altitudes, in order to study the outflow of ions from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere;

+ and the Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, a joint project between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and European Space Agency to study the interaction between Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind, while simultaneously monitoring the magnetosphere's plasma environment.

The National Space Science Center also began soliciting research ideas from all space science-related institutes across China on Thursday. Researchers have until the end of December to make a submission.

After the first round of expert review, the ideas with the best prospects will receive grants from the center for up to six months of in-depth study to draw up detailed research plans. Some of these could then be chosen as candidates for the country's 14th Five Year Plan (2021-25) or 15 Five Year Plan (2026-30) on space exploration.

 

[Jlaw]

Great news. Hope all the plans pan out. It be interesting to get new information on black holes, etc

 

[ahojunk]

China starts collecting space program proposals
2016-12-02 10:43 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e

China on Thursday began collecting proposals for future space science programs, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Research institutes, universities and the aerospace industry are encouraged to make proposals for China's aerospace development in the next 10 to 15 years, CAS said.

CAS plans to launch more science satellites by around 2020 to conduct science missions, such as detecting electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves and understanding the Earth's water cycle, according to CAS deputy head Xiang Libin.

The satellites include the Einstein-Probe, the Advanced Space-borne Solar Observatory, the Water Cycle Observation Mission, the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Exploration, and the Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, Xiang said.

 

[ahojunk]

China to end 180-day human space survival experiment
2016-12-13 10:26 | China Daily | Editor: Feng Shuang

Four Chinese volunteers who have been living inside a sealed capsule in Shenzhen for close to the last 6-months are now just hours away from completing their 180-day survival experiment this coming Wednesday.
(Photo: China News Service/Sun Zifa)


Four Chinese volunteers who have been living inside a sealed capsule in Shenzhen for close to the last 6-months are now just hours away from completing their 180-day survival experiment this coming Wednesday.

The four scientists -- three men and one woman -- are taking part in this experiment designed to determine how well food, water, and oxygen can be used and recycled under controlled conditions.

The test of the "controlled ecological life support system" has been inspired by technology currently used in China's Shenzhou spacecraft.

Luo Jie is one of the volunteers. He says "The plants are mostly being harvested now. Many of the plants were sown earlier, and they're now in the harvesting phase. We're going to be out of our capsule soon. Not a lot has changed when it comes to the care of our plants. It's sort of the same thing every day. The plants need to be taken care of, so we take care of them every day."

The 13-hundred-40-cubic-meter sealed capsule has floor space of 370 square meters, and is divided into eight compartments, including living quarters, space for storage and the greenhouse.

Volunteers have cultivated 25 different kinds of plants inside the capsule, including wheat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, soybeans, peanuts, lettuce, edible amaranth and Chinese cabbage, among others.

The plants are part of a larger ecological system that helps recycle and regenerate oxygen and water, and will reduce the dependency on outside supplies.

Team doctor Tong Feizhou says they're trying to ultimately create a balance where a sealed pod could eventually become self-sustainable.

"I am mainly responsible for the last round of data collection from our experiments, as well as our medical monitoring and support. It's a huge amount of work", Tong said.

Outside of the sealed capsule, other scientists are also monitoring and observing how a hermetic environment affects people's physiological changes, biological rhythms, sleep patterns and psychological health.

Tang Yongkang, another of the volunteers, says they look forward to seeing the results of their tests once they're allowed out.

"I feel excited. We're getting out of the capsule soon. We have finished about 177 days of the 180-day mission, with only a couple of days left to go. Admittedly, I'm looking forward to getting out."

More than a dozen Chinese and overseas institutions are involved in the experiment, including the Astronaut Center of China, Harvard University and the German Aerospace Center.

As one might expect, the results of the experiment are considered critical to determining the viability of long-term space travel.

 

[ahojunk]

Chinese deep space experiment volunteers emerge after 180 days
2016-12-15 09:41 | Ecns.cn | Editor:Yao Lan

Space 180 volunteers Tang Yongkang, Luo Jie, Wu Shiyun and Tong Feizhou (right) emerge from the experiment, December 14, 2016. Four volunteers on Wednesday emerged from a 180-day long sealed space survival experiment, designed to assist China's plans for future deep space human exploration. The three men and one woman participated in the 'Space 180' experiment to help determine how well food, water and oxygen can be used and recycled under controlled conditions. The project was run by the Astronaut Centre of China, with the life support system inspired by technology currently used in Shenzhou spacecraft. (Photo: China News Service/Zhu Jiutong)

Space 180 volunteers Tang Yongkang, Luo Jie, Wu Shiyun and Tong Feizhou (right) emerge from the experiment, December 14, 2016. Four volunteers on Wednesday emerged from a 180-day long sealed space survival experiment, designed to assist China's plans for future deep space human exploration. The three men and one woman participated in the 'Space 180' experiment to help determine how well food, water and oxygen can be used and recycled under controlled conditions. The project was run by the Astronaut Centre of China, with the life support system inspired by technology currently used in Shenzhou spacecraft. (Photo: China News Service/Zhu Jiutong)

Space 180 volunteers Tang Yongkang, Luo Jie, Wu Shiyun and Tong Feizhou (right) emerge from the experiment, December 14, 2016. Four volunteers on Wednesday emerged from a 180-day long sealed space survival experiment, designed to assist China's plans for future deep space human exploration. The three men and one woman participated in the 'Space 180' experiment to help determine how well food, water and oxygen can be used and recycled under controlled conditions. The project was run by the Astronaut Centre of China, with the life support system inspired by technology currently used in Shenzhou spacecraft. (Photo: China News Service/Zhu Jiutong)

Space 180 volunteers Tang Yongkang, Luo Jie, Wu Shiyun and Tong Feizhou (right) emerge from the experiment, December 14, 2016. Four volunteers on Wednesday emerged from a 180-day long sealed space survival experiment, designed to assist China's plans for future deep space human exploration. The three men and one woman participated in the 'Space 180' experiment to help determine how well food, water and oxygen can be used and recycled under controlled conditions. The project was run by the Astronaut Centre of China, with the life support system inspired by technology currently used in Shenzhou spacecraft. (Photo: China News Service/Zhu Jiutong)

 

[Place Of Space]

Thanks to this woman, or the tree men can't survive.

 

[rott]

Thanks to this woman, or the tree men can't survive.

Two women and two men would have been more interesting.

 

[Dawood Ibrahim]

China plans to land probes on far side of moon, Mars by 2020
AP — PUBLISHED about an hour ago

China vowed Tuesday to speed up the development of its space industry as it set out its plans to become the first country to soft land a probe on the far side of the moon, around 2018, and launch its first Mars probe by 2020.

"To explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power is a dream we pursue unremittingly," read a white paper setting out the country's space strategy for the next five years.

It says China aims to use space for peaceful purposes and to guarantee national security, and to carry out cutting edge scientific research.

The white paper released by the information office of China's Cabinet points to the growing ambitions of China's already rapidly advancing space program. Although the white paper doesn't mention it, China's eventual goal is the symbolic feat of landing an astronaut on the moon.

While Russia and the United States have more experience in manned space travel, China's military-backed program has made steady progress in a comparatively short time.

Since China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, it has staged a spacewalk and landed a rover on the moon in 2013 — the first time humans had soft landed anything on the moon since the 1970s.

Last month, two astronauts returned from a month-long stay aboard China's Tiangong 2 experimental space station, the country's sixth and longest crewed mission. A fully functioning, permanently crewed space station is on course to begin operations six years from now and is slated to run for at least a decade.

The white paper reiterated China's plans to launch its first Mars probe by 2020, saying this would explore and bring back samples from the red planet, explore the Jupiter system and "conduct research into major scientific questions such as the origin and evolution of the solar system, and search for extraterrestrial life."

The paper says the Chang'e-4 lunar probe will help shed light on the formation and evolution of the moon.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1304770/china-plans-to-land-probes-on-far-side-of-moon-mars-by-2020

 

[Dawood Ibrahim]

All the best china

 

[ahojunk]

China’s major space activities planned for the next five years
Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2016/12/27 17:20:06