Tracking space debris in record time
06 January 2015
A new research by Australian and Chinese space experts was just published in Advances in Space Research. The study proposes that it is possible to estimate an object's (space debris) orbit from just five seconds of optical and laser tracking. So far a time period of up to 4 minutes was needed for the same purpose.
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link to the paper in Advances in Space Research...
Chang'e 3 - Anniversary Photo Gallery
03 January 2015
Leonard David is pointing on his website to the very impressive photo gallery of images from the Chang'e 3 lunar mission.
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Link to the lunar photo collection (in Chinese) ...
Chang'e 5-T1 to return to Moon's orbit
05 January 2015
The service module of China's unmanned lunar orbiter Chang'e 5-T1 is scheduled to return to the Moon's orbit in mid-January for more tests to prepare for the country's next lunar probe mission, Chang'e-5. On 4 January, the service module left the Earth-Moon second Lagrange Point (L2) after circling the point while performing additional tests, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said today.
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China's Beidou navigation system adoption still slow
01 January 2015
China's indigenously developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System has been in service for two years but the adoption of the system has been slow. With a positioning accuracy of 10 meters, a velocity accuracy of 0.2 meters per second and a timing accuracy of 10 nanoseconds, Beidou has become the third major navigation system in the world. Beidou's market share, according to Miao Qianjun, Executive Vice President of the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location-Based Service Association of China, is forecast to reach 20% this year, while production values surrounding the system are set to grow to 200 billion yuan (US$32 billion). But the adoption of Beidou in the auto sector has been slow, as local car companies have not been pushing for the technology as rapidly as other sectors, Miao added.
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