China's Space Program News Thread
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by78
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Also, this latest slide conflicts with an earlier presentation on a sample return mission to 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (see illustration at the bottom). In that earlier presentation, the probe was named Zheng He instead of Tianwen-2. Also, the mission was much more complicated and had two parts: first a sample return mission from 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and then a remote observation mission of another astroid named , all done by the same probe, with the two-part mission lasting almost a decade. The full summary of the earlier presentation is as follows:
Of course, this latest slide may have omitted mentioning the second part of the mission for whatever reason, but my gut tells me that Zheng He may have been deemed too ambitious or risky and thus had been scaled back and re-worked to become Tianwen-2. Now I wonder if the remote observation of 311P/PanSTARRS is still planned and whether a separate probe will be sent for that endeavor.
False alarm, Tianwen-2 retains the second mission component that calls for remote observation of after completing a sample return of 469219 Kamoʻoalewa.
According to Zhang Rongqiao (张荣桥), the chief engineer for China's Mars exploration program, Tianwen-2 has entered the initial engineering stage. The probe is on track to be launched in 2025.
by78
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High-resolution images of the foggy early morning launch of Tianzhou-4.
One more. A very long exposure shot.
by78
General
High-resolution images of the CZ-8 launch carrying 22 satellites.
Another nice image showing how the 22 satellites are packaged and attached to the retention/separation mechanism.
When did this happen?
Is that Buzz Aldrin? Who's that Chinese lady?When did this happen?
Wang Yaping.
They are both Astronauts, Buzz has been to the moon. Wang will be going there soon.
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