China aimsĀ for space tourism by 2025
18 September 2022
China is expected to send its first group of commercial passengers to suborbital space in 2025, with each flight priced between 2 and 3 million RMB (around 287,200 to 430,800 USD), according to Yang Yiqiang, a senior rocket scientist who was the Director of the Long March 11 rocket project in 2018, and the founder of Beijing-based rocket company CAS Space.
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Latest findings from Tianwen mission data
18 September 2022
The latest batch of scientific research results from the Tianwen Mars mission show that a large amount of liquid water activity once existed in the landing zone of the Zhurong rover, about one billion years ago. As of 15 September, Tianwen-1 has been in orbit for more than 780 days. So far, the rover has traversed a total of 1,921 m. The volume of science data is 1,480 GB. Through the comprehensive study of typical landforms such as concave cones, wall impact craters and trenches distributed in the landing area, the scientific research team has revealed the important connection between the formation of landforms and water activities in Zhurong's landing area.
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2nd EVA for SZ-14 mission
17 September 2022
Shenzhou 14 taikonauts Cai Xuzhe and Chen Dong successfully exited the airlock on the Wentian module on 17 September to work in the open cosmos. At 13:35 BJT, Cai opened the airlock hatch. By 15:33 BJT Cai and Chen were outside. Supported by the small mechanical arm, the pair conducted a series of tasks, including the installation of a foot-rest, which is used for fixing astronauts' feet on the robotic arm, and an assist handle, which can help astronauts open the hatch door from outside in an emergency. The taikonauts also installed additional pumps, the core equipment of the space station's thermal control system, and carried out the most challenging task of extravehicular rescue for the first time. During the EVA, Liu Yang was inside the core module, supporting her crewmates. At 17:47 BJT, the 5-hour EVA was successfully completed.
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CE-5 lunar samples suggest high water content in moon materials
16 September 2022
Researchers from the Institute of Geochemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences found a large amount of water in the returned lunar soil samples, with an estimated content of at least 170 parts per million, equivalent to 170 grams of water per tonne of lunar soil. The discovery, which was published in the journal Nature Communications earlier this month, shows that the Moon minerals are important reservoirs of water.
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Chinese scientists discover new findings from Chang'e-5 samples, provide new insights into lunar volcanic activity
16 September 2022
Scientists with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have conducted more studies and research into lunar samples from the Chang'e-5 robotic mission, which revealed the basalt thickness at its landing region and they estimated that the region has experienced volcanic eruptions at least four times, according to a recent article published on the CAS website.
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