Hong Kong team plays crucial role in Tianwen 1 mission
29 June 2021
A 20-strong team of scientists at Hong Kong PolyU's Department of Land Surveying and Geo-informatics made crucial contributions to the selection of Tianwen's landing site and to the determination of the spacecraft's exact location after landing, and consequently the successful landing. The team led by Prof. Wu Bo used innovative topographic mapping and geo-morphological analysis techniques as well as its experience. The team members also helped map and evaluate landing sites on the Moon for China's Chang'e 4 lander in 2019 and the Chang'e 5 lander last year.
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Yang Liwei opens up about the problems during his flight
27 June 2021
In his article "One Day in Space", Yang recalled several breathtaking moments when he thought he could not make it through the trip back. "When the rocket lifted to a height about 30-40 kilometers above the ground, I felt it begin to vibrate violently, and it was extremely painful," he said. "Then the accident happened. The fierce vibration was shattering my body, and the pain had grown unbearable. I thought I was going to die," Yang recalled. The deadly moment lasted for 26 seconds. When it was finally over, the taikonaut, all alone in the vastness of space, felt like he had been reborn. As the ground control finally saw Yang slightly blinking his eyes through the surveillance camera onboard the craft, his colleagues burst out crying, "He's blinking! Yang is alive!"
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38th Episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup
27 June 2021
This time, Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville focus on the design changes for the super heavy CZ-9 rocket as presented last week by Long Lehao during a talk at the University of Hong Kong. The two experts also give an update on China SatNet and the 50 billion RMB Satellite Industry Fund which will be set up in Shenzhen.
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New survey telescope in NW China's Qinghai will help detect space debris in medium and high orbits
28 June 2021
A foundation stone laying ceremony was held on Saturday in Xining, Northwest China's Qinghai Province, for the construction of a survey telescope array which will be mainly used to detect space debris in medium and high orbits. The multi-application survey telescope array, MASTA, developed by the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is planned to be built in the astronomical observation base in the town of Lenghu, in the Gobi Desert, Qinghai Province, with an average altitude of 3,800 meters above sea level.
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