UK scientists hope to participate more in future Chinese space projects
12 December 2018
Hundreds of leading scientists and technologists from the UK and Chinese space research and industry are discussing how to deepen the collaboration and pave the way for future innovation at the 13th UK-China workshop on space science and technology in Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province, from 11 to 13 December.
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Here’s why China’s launch to the far side of the Moon is a big deal
12 December 2018
Eric Berger writes on the webportal arsTECHNICA: "China has an increasingly ambitious space program, which it views as critical to establishing itself as a global superpower. China has both military ambitions in space (where some of its technologies rival the United States'), as well as a desire for international prestige by doing new and interesting things in space. Sure, NASA has done a lot of amazing things, but it has not done a mission like the one China is attempting. This is one reason why an unprecedented, soft landing on the far side of the Moon is a big deal for the country."
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Chinese scientists eye transforming Mars after successful sand-control on Earth
10 December 2018
Algae can withstand temperatures up to 60 degrees centigrade, and ultraviolet radiation and drought, said Liu Yongding, a researcher at the Wuhan-based Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has studied algae for over 40 years. Liu has an ambitious goal: letting algae pioneer human migration to Mars. Since 1987, his team has studied algae to support astronauts' long stay in space. They have carried out experiments on six of China's returnable satellites, and biological experiments on the Shenzhou spacecraft. They have worked with German scientists to research the life support system on the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft. They will also carry out experiments on China's future space station.
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China to launch new-generation retrievable satellite in 2019
10 December 2018
China will launch a reusable retrievable satellite next year, with its recoverable module able to be used 15 times over the next decade, according to the China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. The new-generation retrievable satellite, being developed by CAST, is a reusable satellite which allows experiments and other payloads to be sent to space and later recovered. The 3,500-kilogram satellite will be offered in short-term and long-term configurations, with the former running on battery power alone and the later carrying solar arrays. It will be capable of carrying up to 500 to 600 kilograms of recoverable payload.
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