China's Space Program News Thread

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"Ground control to Major Tom..."

 

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CZ-7 roll out...

 

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Nine secrets about China's Long March-7 rocket

According to a subordinate WeChat account of the PLA Daily, Long March-7, China's homegrown new-generation carrier rocket, is scheduled to be launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in south China's Hainan province between June 25 and 29. This is the first task for the rocket during the construction of the space lab in the third phase of China's manned space flight project. This will be the first time for the Long March-7 carrier rocket to be launched and the first time for the launch center to launch a rocket.

Here are nine secrets regarding the Long March-7 carrier rocket :

1. The new-generation rocket can be launched in the rain - Although China would not launch in-service rockets on rainy days the water-proof new-generation rocket can be launched in rainy days. As it is of high humidity and precipitation in the new launch center in south China's Hainan province, it is required that the new-generation rocket should be waterproof.

2. The new-generation carrier rocket can be parked for 24 hours after being fueled - The Long March-7 carrier rocket can be parked at the launch center for 24 hours, the longest duration known after a rocket is filled with low-temperature fuel. The new-generation rocket is designed to meet multi-launch demands. The long park duration improve the degree of reliability during launch of the rocket.

3. More water is needed to lower the temperature of the platform during launch - A total of 400 tons of water is needed during a duration of 20 seconds to lower the temperature of the launching platform so that the platform will not be damaged by the high temperatures.

4. A special protective coating is needed for the rocket launch platform - As the temperature will reach 2,800 degrees Celsius at the moment of launching, technicians will paint a special protective coating on the platform to extend the service life.

5. The Long March-7 carrier rocket has been shipped to the launch center from the Tianjin port rather than being transported along highways and railways.

6. In order to save space, the new-generation rocket will use the same track as the Long March-5 did during transportation. The rocket will make 60-degree turns four times.

7. There are pipes used to refuel, recharge and adjust the temperature of the rocket.

8. Almost 90 percent of the weight of the rocket is fuel.

9. The new-generation rocket can resist sudden gales of wind because the rocket is equipped with wind-resistance devices.

 

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High-res pics...

 

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Russia and China plan to sign an agreement on protection of intellectual property in the sphere of rocket and space technology during the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China in late June.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on Monday after a meeting of the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission for preparing regular meetings of the government heads that China is interested in buying Russia’s RD-180 engines, and Russia - in getting Chinese micro radio electronics for space purposes.

"Agreements both on the first and second issues will be reached when we sign during the upcoming visit of President Vladimir Putin to China an agreement on protection of intellectual property. Consequently, this opens for us the way to concluding two major contracts", he said.


"It’s on our very successful engine (RD-180), which we deliver even to the United States. You have heard all sorts of speculations on this by American politicians, starting from (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services John) McCain to Elon Musk, who were trying to prevent such deliveries", Rogozin said.

"However, the pragmatic Americans, being the initiators of the sanctions, continue to purchase our engines, because they simply do not have this kind of engine. They have no equipment to orbit their payloads on. Naturally, the Chinese side is interested in such a powerful engine for launching its payloads into space," the Russian deputy prime minister said.

 

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Plan to develop family of space robots

China plans to develop a large family of robots for both its unmanned and manned space programs, according to a senior official with the nation's space agency. Tian Yulong, secretary-general of the China National Space Administration, said the government is drawing up a long-term plan for the development of space robots.

"They will consist of Mars rovers, asteroid explorers, robotic arms and service robots that can help maintain and repair an in-orbit space station, space laboratories and satellites," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space, which is being held in Beijing.

The three-day event, which opened on Monday, is being hosted by the space administration and Harbin Institute of Technology, and the attendees come from more than 10 countries including the United States, Germany and Japan."More efforts will be made to develop advanced robots with higher automation to meet the needs of our deep-space exploration programs," Tian said.

He said that China's Mars rover will be based on proven, domestically developed technologies and will benefit from the operation experience of the country's Yutu lunar rover. China plans to send an unmanned probe to orbit and land on Mars around 2020. Since the 1960s, more than 40 probes have journeyed to Mars, but only 19 have accomplished their missions.

At present, there are two rovers beaming signals from the planet's surface back to Earth: NASA's Mars Exploration Mission rover "Opportunity" and its Mars Science Laboratory rover "Curiosity".

Professor Liu Hong, a senior robotics expert at Harbin Institute of Technology, said space missions are very risky for astronauts as they often involve operations in vacuum, under extreme temperature changes and in high radiation. "Such operations are suitable for robots to carry out," he said.

"Robotic arms are an ideal combination of human intelligence and robotic capability, and these will be one of our research focuses." China is already a leader in the research into robotic arms, and its achievement has been recognized by the international space community, according to Liu.