China's Space Program Thread II

[taxiya]

A slide from Mr. Long's latest presentation, which states that on August 26th, 2022, the AT-1B sub-orbital spaceplane again successfully landed back on Earth, thereby demonstrating its reusability.

The first image from the left is actually Soviet Baikal booster. But I suppose the text is about China, meaning AT-1B conducted gliding back demo in 2013.

As usual I am disappointed at CASC's powerpoint work, but using Baikal's photo indicates that AT-1B is developed in the same purpose as Beikal, that is a reusable first stage/booster.

Another thing worth to note is that, EAS and US also had similar concepts under development but cancelled. Russia (Baikal) and EAS choose to fit an turbo-fan engine to fly back. I don't have information of the US design. CASC's design relies gliding only which saves quiet some weight.

 

[taxiya]

A high-resolution illustration of the next-generation manned spacecraft. It shows the crew module (top left) and the service module (lower right).

It is strange that this model kept showing up including the museum. But it does not exist in any research paper. The latest flight test shows the service module being the same diameter, this is also presented in all research papers that I have read so far.

I will forgive the powerpoint makers as it isn't going to be circled much outside a small number of people. But I can't forgive laziness of the model makers for the museum because the only reason for a piece in the museum is to show the real thing or a identical mockup, not a place-holder.

 

[sunnymaxi]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1631233676137603073

 

[kickars]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1631233676137603073

Would you like to point out the difference between this latest design and the last one?

 

[Kalec]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1631233676137603073

Not like it is something new, the official news stated that the fuel tank passed its verification milestone last winter. And the construction was completed on 09/13/2022 so almost half a year ago.

More importantly, the fuel tank was actually designed for the oldest version of CZ-9 and it was in 9.5m diameter not the newest 10m diameter one, as the the red banner revealed.

Would you like to point out the difference between this latest design and the last one?

Transition from LOX to methane.

 

[Andy1974]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1631233676137603073

In the process, the team has overcome a series of key technologies:

Preparation of oversized plates

Optimized design of super-large diameter storage tank structure

Precision shape collaborative manufacturing technology for super-large diameter components

Oversized diameter box bottom stirring friction welding technology

Super-large diameter storage tank vertical assembly friction stir welding technology

These tanks should have fewer leaks due to using stirring friction welding.

 

[by78]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1631233676137603073

Please don't just link to a tweet. It's lazy, and it lowers the quality of this forum. Say something about the tweet, summarize it, and upload the photos contained in the tweet separately so that we don't lose them when the tweets go down. Also, the search function of this forum doesn't index linked tweets, so it's extremely important give at least a brief summary so your post shows up in a search. Thank you.

The first prototype of a 10-meter diameter propellant tank for the Long March 9 rocket.

 

[by78]

A maintenance robot for the

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. It's used to disassemble and maintain

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.

 

[by78]

Environmental control units (air purifier + carbon dioxide scrubber) for the Chinese space station on display at the National Museum of China.

 

[by78]

The Tianwen-2 astroid sample return mission has been officially approved!

1) The Tianwen-2 mission will conduct close observation and sample return of the near-Earth asteroid

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and close observation of a

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(MBC). The Tianwen-2 probe consists of two parts: the main detector and the sample return capsule.
2) Compared to close observation of large celestial bodies such as the moon and Mars, small-celestial body observation mission faces a unique set of challenges, such as much weaker gravitational environments and unknown soil characteristics of the target astroids.
3) The Tianwen-2 probe will perform its first rendezvous maneuver at a distance of 30,000 km from 2016HO3, followed by approximately three additional rendezvous maneuvers. Approximately six hours after the last maneuver, the probe will be within 2000km of 2016HO3. From there on, it will begin a slow approach to the astroid at a speed of approximately 2m/s.
4) The accuracy of the probe during the descent phase must <1m. The probe will rely on automated high-precision image matching navigation technology and

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precise control, among others, to achieve the required landing accuracy.
5) The sample return capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at a very high speed (as high as 12.1km/s), which requires the development of new aerodynamic shapes and

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heat-resistant materials in order to withstand the harsh re-entry conditions characterized by high enthalpy, high shear force, and high

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. Additionally, the return capsule will perform supersonic parachute opening at a speed of Mach 2 to 2.4, with a dynamic pressure on the parachute being as high as 3000 Pa.