Chinese Space Program (CNSA) & Ch. commercial launch and discussion

[steve9728]

"When Americans suspect you of having done something, you'd better have really done it, and done it pretty good." And because their company has provided SAR satellite imagery services to other countries on a humanitarian aid basis, I have also seen rumours that the Ukrainians have asked them to provide satellite imagery for free. But such rumours are just as unprovable and unfalsifiable as this sanction. So, I won't comment anything about did they gave something or not.

The reason why I only have comment about this is I just want to laugh at is that because of the Wolf Amendment, it is impossible for anything space-related in China to have any American element to it. This kind of performance art sanction is no different from "double zero tolerance" in the Gambia, or "hang twice" in the Philippines.

the "good old days" are gone which we had to cut our stomachs open to prove our innocence if the West suspected had done something

ON SOME ISSUES, WE THE CHINESE CARE MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

[SpacestationDog]

  On 11/25/2022 at 5:26 PM, steve9728 said:

The Lunar & Space Engineering Centre of the CNSA formed a selection committee to ensure the safety and reliability of the Chang'e-6 mission. The effectiveness of the engineering implementation of the international loads and the achievement of the scientific objectives were individually evaluated, and four international loads were finally identified: Radon Gas Explorer, CubeSat, Lunar Surface Negative Ion Analyser and Laser Angular Reflector. "At present, the technical status of these four international loads has been largely determined and is technically feasible to carry" 

As for "When and how will the our taikonauts reach the moon?" The chief designer of China's lunar exploration project, Wu Weiren said that the establishment of a basic lunar research station will be completed before a manned lunar landing, and that the basic lunar research station is expected to be built by around 2028, with taikonauts expected to be on the moon within a decade. By then, the moon will become our frontier base for deep space exploration, and we'll be able to transit on the moon when flying to other planets such as Mars.

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uX8xeKCQrvu5PVnwt4MZLg

 

To my inaccurate understanding of this, the current progress of the manned lunar landing project is CNSA has completed the demonstration of the project, the central government has approved the project at the political level and allocated the corresponding funds. Then the relevant departments of CNSA now are probably building the initial prototypes of the landing module and other related equipment. Of course, if you want to see a more accurate guess as to when the manned lunar landing will be completed, then you'll have to wait and see when construction of the new launch site at Wenchang will begin.

Emmm... a strange but creative idea from CALT: landing on the moon in a lying position. 

"... For the power system, the engines need to achieve variable thrust in order to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. The vehicle is powered by an 8t thrust YF-75D hydrogen-oxygen engine with a variable thrust ratio of 3:1. Eight-unit of RCS configuration scheme is used to achieve a landing section levelling and autogenous pressurisation scheme, with the RCS using gaseous hydrogen and oxygen scheme, with an integrated fluid system providing autogenous gas to meet the pressurisation flow temperature requirements.
For the control system, the reused single-stage lunar surface landing and ascent vehicle adopts a horizontal attitude vertical landing and vertical take-off scheme. Hover control and precision landing are achieved by controlling the thrust magnitude and direction of the main engines, the number of RCS descent nozzles on and their opening frequency." ... "The single-stage lunar landing and ascent vehicle is repeatedly used to decelerate and brake from the 300 km circumlunar orbit space station into a 300 km x 15 km transfer orbit. Deceleration and braking at the near-moon point of the transfer orbit to enter the lunar soft-landing segment." ... "The sub-sections are described as follows:

1. At 15 km altitude the main engines are switched on and ignition is switched on and the deceleration brakes are switched on. The braking section has fuel optimisation as its primary objective, considering the accuracy of the landing point to meet the position and velocity constraints at 1 km altitude.
2. At 1 km altitude, eight normal nozzles are switched on and the vehicle completes an attitude yaw of 180° during hovering.
3. From 1 km altitude, landing descent is initiated and manoeuvre addressing is completed during descent until lunar surface landing.
4. During ascent, the vertical take-off mode with horizontal attitude is adopted, eight normal nozzles are turned on, and the pitch angle is adjusted to 35° after 200 m. At this point, the main engine is fired until the vehicle is in orbit."

... "Conclusion
... In addition, the reusable single-stage lunar surface landing with a horizontal attitude vertical landing In addition, the landing gear of the reusable single-stage lunar surface landing and ascent vehicle with a horizontal attitude vertical landing can be converted to a wheeled mobile system to move the large mass payload from the to transport a large mass payload from Earth to the lunar landing base and then to another lunar base without loading or unloading, providing inter-orbit transport + lunar surface transport. orbital refuelling / lunar surface refuelling technology, for future large-scale lunar resource development, the lunar research station construction and operation, and space exploration and utilisation on the Earth and Moon. A new reusable transport system solution."

 

Have to say, pretty Kerbal this idea

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Well, when first time i saw this idea, it made me thought about this post on Baidu Tieba. I don't think this kind of rocket has powerful performance, but it might can make things like cars or base moudel placed in the ship easily. All in all, everything could happened.

[steve9728]

China Space News: CNSA decide to build an overseas satellite ground station for ocean observing satellite ground control system near the Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. The winning bid for the construction works was ￥43.95 million.

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by steve9728

[Abel Military Services]

BRO IT'S TOTM FEB. 2023 NOW! @tater @steve9728

[steve9728]

  On 2/4/2023 at 12:57 PM, Abel Military Services said:

BRO IT'S TOTM FEB. 2023 NOW! @tater @steve9728

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Not sure what you want to say. But if you are meaning Tengyun the little space shuttle, is few hours later. And, try to be getting used of it mate.

[steve9728]

  On 2/4/2023 at 1:43 PM, steve9728 said:

Tengyun the little space shuttle

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Alright, half year for this bad boy in the orbit today since August last year.

Happy Lantern Festival! 上元安康！

[SunlitZelkova]

  On 2/4/2023 at 1:43 PM, steve9728 said:

Not sure what you want to say. But if you are meaning Tengyun the little space shuttle, is few hours later. And, try to be getting used of it mate.

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This became Thread of the Month (TOTM) apparently.

[SpacestationDog]

  On 2/4/2023 at 7:24 PM, steve9728 said:

Alright, half year for this bad boy in the orbit today since August last year.

Happy Lantern Festival! 上元安康！

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Really?  I remembered it was returned last year.

Maybe it's in orbit is to kill your head. (:-D

[steve9728]

  On 2/4/2023 at 9:27 PM, SunlitZelkova said:

This became Thread of the Month (TOTM) apparently.

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My bad. English is good for everything except those annoying abbreviation

[steve9728]

Global Times: Tianyi sent back SAR satellite images of the area around the earthquake in Turkey at 1105 local time on 6 Feb. "Because the weather in this area on the day of the incident was bad and the clouds were thick, making it difficult for optical satellites to image the area. SAR, which has the ability to work all day and night, was important means to obtain panoramic images of the earthquake-stricken area. In future, Tianyi, will continue to monitor the situation in the quake zone and provide satellite imagery to support the rescue work in the quake area."

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ESRI's publicly available optical history image (the red star is the source of this earthquake):

The SAR image from the Chaohu-1 satellite:

And satellite imaging in strip mode:

"After acquiring satellite imagery of the epicentre area in Turkey, Tianyi‘s researchers analysed the post-earthquake imagery in conjunction with previously published local optical satellite imagery before the quake, using the imaging characteristics of SAR imagery of buildings to determine the apparent damage to a residential area (Sakçagözü) around three thousand metres from the quake source. Geological hazards are suspected in the hills near the source of the earthquake."

Edited February 7, 2023 by steve9728

[steve9728]

Xinhua: The Shenzhou-15 crew will be on their first EVA mission in the next few days

[steve9728]

Changguang (长光) Satellite's official weibo post several images from Turkey about the earthquake stricken areas

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Hope that the local refugees will soon emerge from the disaster. And also, the international rescue teams that have arrived or are on their way can be safe.

Edited February 8, 2023 by steve9728

[steve9728]

 

 

[steve9728]

The Shenzhou-12's orbital module was back 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by steve9728

[steve9728]

Xinhua: Shenzhou-15 crew complete their first spacewalk.

CMS's official WeChat account said that this spacewalk lasted seven hours (in this link you can see several gifs about their spacewalk). For the first time, CCTV did not show the live broadcast of the spacewalk between 6pm and 8pm, even if it was taped.

Edited February 9, 2023 by steve9728

[steve9728]

 

  On 1/17/2023 at 8:06 AM, steve9728 said:

However, the one on the surface of Mars still not "up" yet. According to Jia Yang, the deputy chief designer of the Tianwen system, during a previous education speech to youth, the rover will wake up autonomously when both of the following conditions are met:

1. Solar panels generate energy>140W
2. Temperature of energy equipment like the batteries >-15℃

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  On 1/17/2023 at 2:17 PM, steve9728 said:

The weather data from the Perseverance

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It's still maximum around -15 ~ -20℃ there. What a rubbish spring in Mars!

[steve9728]

"Shine like the whole universe is yours."

[steve9728]

 

And for first time, we have the footage about deploying payload from the cargo airlock. Unfortunately, I can't find that in YouTube or Twitter yet. So here's the original link about CCTV's news about that. Skip to 03:09.

Edited February 13, 2023 by steve9728

[steve9728]

After 75 days of convalescence, the Shenzhou-14 crew met the public first time:

After completing a summary of their health recovery assessment, the three of them will move on to their normal training work.

In the full video (Of course, English subs not available), Cai Xuzhe talks about how watering plants in space is very different from on the ground: when we water the roots of plants we find that the water droplets are not immediately absorbed, but remain on the surface of the roots. Meanwhile, some plants with a certain need for sunlight don't grow very well because they are inside the space station module. The lettuce we grew, however, I thought was quite tasty.

Edited February 18, 2023 by steve9728

[tater]

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

NASA Images Confirm China's Zhurong Mars Rover Hasn't Budged in Months - CNET

Martian conditions can be tough for robotic explorers, especially ones that rely on solar power. NASA's InSight lander and Opportunity rover both reached the ends of their missions after dust caked their panels. It's possible Zhurong has experienced a similar fate. Whatever happens, the rover still completed its main mission objectives and handily outlasted its original three-month life expectancy, cementing its legacy in the history of space exploration.

[DDE]

Provocative title is provocative:

China aims to launch nearly 13,000 satellites to ‘suppress’ Elon Musk’s Starlink, researchers say

• The satellite constellation is likely to be launched quickly to prevent SpaceX from hogging ‘low-orbit resources’, according to PLA space scientists
• The project, code-named ‘GW’, would provide internet services and could be used to spy on rival networks and carry out anti-Starlink missions, paper says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3211438/china-aims-launch-nearly-13000-satellites-suppress-elon-musks-starlink-researchers-say

[SunlitZelkova]

  On 2/26/2023 at 3:53 PM, DDE said:

Provocative title is provocative:

China aims to launch nearly 13,000 satellites to ‘suppress’ Elon Musk’s Starlink, researchers say

• The satellite constellation is likely to be launched quickly to prevent SpaceX from hogging ‘low-orbit resources’, according to PLA space scientists
• The project, code-named ‘GW’, would provide internet services and could be used to spy on rival networks and carry out anti-Starlink missions, paper says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3211438/china-aims-launch-nearly-13000-satellites-suppress-elon-musks-starlink-researchers-say

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Note this is the same newspaper that said with absolute certainty that the J-20 was chosen as China’s carrier based stealth fighter (for those that don’t know, the FC-31/J-31/J-35 ended up actually being chosen).

[DDE]

  On 2/26/2023 at 10:21 PM, SunlitZelkova said:

Note this is the same newspaper that said with absolute certainty that the J-20 was chosen as China’s carrier based stealth fighter (for those that don’t know, the FC-31/J-31/J-35 ended up actually being chosen).

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Yes, I can see the similarities to coverage of defense affairs by the Russian press just from the tone. They're gushing over what seems to be a mere study paper...

[steve9728]

  On 2/26/2023 at 10:21 PM, SunlitZelkova said:

Note this is the same newspaper that said with absolute certainty that the J-20 was chosen as China’s carrier based stealth fighter (for those that don’t know, the FC-31/J-31/J-35 ended up actually being chosen).

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Proof of one thing, the Chinese internet information and public paper searching skills of the person writing this article in this media leaves something to be desired: if this guy could dig deeper he would find that basically every jet fighter has been argued to be carrier-worthy. Before the introduction of the J-20, I vaguely remember a bunch of people on the Chinese internet arguing whether the J-8 and J-10 and some other projects that had already been discontinued could go on a carrier, and there was a lot of bickering about it.

 

An EVA that had absolutely no official news or coverage on the day. The thing we can confirmed is the Red Suit A and Blue Suit B used once more and there's same crew finished EVA as last time.

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Last week, while I was working on some 50-thousand-word report with my colleagues, the National Museum in Beijing opened a '30 Years of China's Manned Space Program' exhibition for 3 months. I don't think I have much time to go to Beijing, so I'll just take a few pictures of the exhibits that people shared on Weibo.

The shape of new manned spaceship (yeah still don't have a proper official name)'s propulsion module seems like to have a credible and significant changes

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The words are the guy's guessing on the Chinese forum. From the top to bottom are Hatch, Solar panels, Umbilical cables, Solar Sensors, and GNSS-like antennae

High temperature-resistant quartz antenna, Porthole, "We don't know what it is", Solar sensor, GNSS-like antennae, and Radiators

The manned lunar landing module

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From the top to bottom and left to right are: Docking mechanism, "Unknow equipment", Solar panels, Crane, Fuel tanks, Lunar rover, Hatch, Ladder, and Separation springs 

The target for manual docking, the optical target for automatic docking, "It should be a radar, but the model is too weird", the Omni-directional antenna to the rover and astronauts, and the Cylinders

Star sensors (2/3), Porthole, the Omni-directional antenna to the lunar surface, and the live equipments of the astronauts landing on the surface 

Star sensors (1/3), Far-field docking optical target, and the Omni-directional antenna to the lunar surface, 120° each

Via. https://weibo.com/2645044133/MuQxltSOJ

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Just don't know which set of options to use for the lunar rover finally

  On 10/23/2022 at 10:45 AM, steve9728 said:

However, the most exciting part I think is, when I looked at what else the applicant of this patent, the Shanghai Institute of Aerospace Systems Engineering, had applied for, I found something called a "manned lunar rover". Then when I used "manned lunar rover" as keyword to search, here's what I found:

A manned lunar rover frame folding mechanism (CN106114631A):

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A multi-purpose manned lunar rover (CN104108475A):

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Semi-enclosed split manned lunar rover (CN204452956U):

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A manned lunar rover (CN111547272A):

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Any car that can break, will break. So, we need a 'Plan B'. And here's the best one I give it that: "High fold-to-spread ratio emergency return device for manned lunar rover applications" (CN113562196A):

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Suits for astronauts

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The suit in space (attention to the ropes at the feet), the suite for emergency rescue, the uniform that would be worm when meeting the public in winter and summer, the EVA suit "Fei Tian", and the IVA suit on the chair

The winter one is Chen Dong's uniform and the summer one is Liu Yang's

via. https://weibo.com/2196038737/MuwqD9qxe

Some details about the EVA suit "Fei Tian" (the first gen)

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Those mirror-flipped words are:

Computer, Low Beam, High Beam, Communicator, (Air Ejector Switchs) Emergency On→Off, Ejector On→Off, (Maybe the temperature) Major Regulators Backup, (Regulators) Major Oxygen cylinders Backup.

Some life support equipment in the station including the trace hazardous gas removal unit and CO2 removal unit

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Via. https://weibo.com/1624763627/Muvj2FwPF

Some space food

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Mixed fried rice, fried noodles with bamboo shoots and shredded pork, and fried rice with soy sauce.

Bazhen chicken, Beef stew with potatoes, Golden role, Stir-fried Shrimp Balls with Water Chestnuts

Spicy lamb, Peppery chicken, Delicious white Bailin mushrooms, and Sour spinach.

Dumplings stuffed with pork and cabbage, and fried shrimp

Dry-roasted prawn sauce, sumac sauce, sweet chili sauce, and ketchup

Via. https://weibo.com/6440061457/Mv5sYr0H0

Some "ambitious" for the CSS's phase II construction: a new nodal module (It was shown in one of the promotional videos, and now that it's on display in the National Museum I think it means that the confidence level for this can be raised from ≤60 to ≤80).

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From these imageries, seems like this module also comes with a detachable propulsion module with a pair of solar panels

Via. https://weibo.com/2645044133/Muwv2dGle

And some imagine for the new manned spaceship

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Have you forgotten how the escape tower works, author of this picture?

Recovery of the first stage rocket in the form of recovery by barges using interceptor net system.

Via. https://weibo.com/2645044133/MuwDKDHE0

Then in an interview with the CSS system chief designer, Yang Hong, in the following days, he said that several more experimental capsules with accompanying flights were planned. These companion capsules will be able to carry out independent missions and then dock autonomously on the station when they need to be refuelled, repaired, and maintained.

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A more direct way of solving the problem of not having a large diameter docking port like the CBM I think

And the news just in: the first successful ignition of the Combustion Science Rack in Mengtian Module

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Flames under the same working conditions, the left was in space, and the right was on the ground.

Tiangong TV S04E14: crew setting up the High Temperature Materials Science Rack. Have to say there's soooooo many parcels up there.

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Chinese subs since 00:17:

The High-Temperature Materials Science Rack is a new type of experimental device that supports the preparation, processing, in-situ testing, real-time observation, and diagnosis of materials in a microgravity environment on the station. The device is at the leading edge in terms of maximum operating temperature, temperature stability, number of experiments, and real-time observation and imaging techniques. This rack includes a control module, a high-temperature furnace module, a batch sample management module, and an X-ray projection image module, providing diverse and advanced technical conditions and capabilities for space materials science research. It has a maximum heating temperature of 1600°C, temperature stability of ±0.25°C, the maximum temperature gradient of 150°C/cm, and batch automation to manage 16 samples. The X-ray transmission imaging real-time observation function is one of the features of this rack, which enables dynamic real-time imaging and real-time observation of the material melting and solidification process.

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by steve9728