13 March 2019
Yutu 2 lunar rover, (Jade Rabbit 2), has driven 163 meters on the far side of the Moon (44.2 on first lunar day; 75.8 on second lunar day; 43 m on third lunar day) and is expected to work longer than its designed three-month life time. Both the rover and the lander of the Chang'e 4 lunar probe switched to a dormant mode on 13 March as the extremely cold lunar night fell, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.
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13 March 2019
Yet another new Chinese launcher start-up has been revealed and put into the spotlight this week: Space Transportation (which is a rough translation of its Chinese name: 凌空天行). The company was actually founded back in August 2018, but had been keeping a low profile ever since.
Based in Beijing, founded in August 2018, Space Transportation Co. is a launcher manufacturer which aims at developing reusable rockets for small payloads (100 - 1,000 kg payload capacity on its Tian Xing - 1 rocket).
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13 March 2019
Beijing-based OneSpace Technology announced on 12 March that it has finished the construction and testing of its first carrier rocket, the OS-M, and is ready to transport it to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China for the model's debut mission in late March. Zhang Jie, chief designer of OS-M, said engineers have examined and tested the compatibility and stability of equipment mounted on the rocket and the launchpad. They have also verified the launch sequence, ground control and tracking procedures, he added.
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11 March 2019
On the sidelines of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, Shang Zhi, head of CASC's space exploration programmes, said that the CZ-9's overall plan has passed internal technical reviews by experts at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp and is awaiting government approval. He said engineers are carrying out tests on key parts to be mounted on the rocket. The company estimates that about 10 Long March 9 rockets will be needed each year from 2030 to 2035 in China to meet the nation's robust demand in heavy-lift rockets at that time, Shang said.
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13 March 2019
The space-tracking ship Yuanwang 3 is sailing to the Pacific Ocean from a port in east China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday for upcoming monitoring missions. This year, the ship will carry out two maritime space monitoring missions, which will last about two months. The mission members have conducted a series of training programs and tests before the voyage, to increase emergency response.
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11 March 2019
Research findings from the Tianzhou 1 cargo space mission in 2017 have shown that the microgravity environment in space promotes heart cell differentiation of mice induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, providing new perspectives on future human space travel.
Researchers from China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University and the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences took the opportunity during the Tianzhou 1 cargo space mission in 2017, to investigate how spaceflight may affect cardiac differentiation of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The researchers could show that microgravity enhanced the cardiomyocyte differentiation process of iPSCs. The scientists hope, that in the future, similar automated stem cell experiments may help to realizse personalised cardiac tissue biomanufacturing and drug test during space travel.
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link to the publication "Spaceflight Promoted Myocardial Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Results from Tianzhou-1 Space Mission" in "Stem Cells and Development"