The Next Tiangong
03 March 2014
Morris Jones, Australia's leading analyst for the Chinese space programm is giving a detailed outlook and well thought-through analysis on what to expect for the next Tiangong 2 misson. In particular he is reflecting on the new cargo spacecraft dubbed "Tianzhou" or "Heavenly Vessel" and with which mission profile it could contribute to the Tiangong 2 programme. Morris explains possible options and likely scenarios. A good read on the comming events.
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China's Lunar Lander Still Operational
03 March 2014
Morris Jones, Australia's leading analyst for the Chinese space programm is summarising the Chang'e 3 and Yutu space mission.
He is giving a good overview on the achievements of the mission to date: "Chang'e-3 had already accomplished several important tasks before it even reached the lunar surface. Its ongoing functionality suggests that the lander has been very successful in its operations, despite the well-known problems with the Yutu rover. On balance, that makes the whole mission seem more successful than some critics may think."
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China to launch first "space shuttle bus" this year
03 March 2014
China is expected to launch an upper stage aircraft this year that can be used as a "space shuttle bus" to propel payload in space, a senior official in charge of rocket research said 03 March. The Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage aircraft, attached with a carrier rocket, can carry aircraft using its own power system after reaching an initial orbit, said Liang Xiaohong, Party secretary of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. It has the same function as a carrier rocket and can bring multiple aircraft to different locations in space, said Liang. China has developed multiple upper stage aircraft with solid propellants since 1980s. Those aircraft had 10 flights, all of which were successful.
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"We hope it can live on. Even if we had to work every night, we would be willing to."
03 March 2014
An unverified user named "Jade Rabbit Lunar Rover", who posts messages in the first-person of the rover, went viral on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo in the past three months. More than 590,000 users have followed it, with posts frequently retweeted thousands of times. The account is believed to belong to space enthusiasts who have been following the rover's journey. Its popularity has even reached out to its "masters" -- a title that Jade Rabbit, or Yutu in Chinese, uses to refer to space scientists in China's lunar missions. "It is a sweetheart for all of us," Ye Peijian, a top scientist with the Chang'e-3 programme, the country's lunar probe mission, told Xinhua.
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