China Long March-5B completes a successful maiden flight, officially kicking off China's space station construction

China's Long March-5B rocket launched from Wenchang

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From Shenzhou-1 to Long March-5B: Tracing China’s space dream

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China's new large carrier rocket, the Long March-5B, made its successful maiden flight on Tuesday, marking a new chapter in the construction of China’s space station. Tracing 28 years of China’s space dream -- from the launch of Shenzhou-1 to Long March-5B. 

Long March-5B blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South China's Hainan Province on Tuesday. Photo: Shi Yue

China's latest state-of-the-art carrier rocket, the Long March-5B, made a successful maiden flight on Tuesday, during which the new rocket managed to send the assembly of a trial version of the country's new-generation manned spaceship with no crew and a testing cargo-returning spacecraft into planned orbit. The successful launch signaled that a new era of the construction of China's manned space projects including space stations has been officially ushered in, according to rocket developer and space industry insiders.

The 53.66-meter-long Long March-5B, with a diameter of 5 meters for its core, took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South China's Hainan Province on Tuesday. After a flight of 488 seconds, the payloads separated from the rocket's body, and went into designated orbit.

"The successful maiden flight of the Long March-5B, a new type of launch vehicle that has been specially developed for China's manned space projects, marked the era of construction of a Chinese space station officially dawning," Wang Jue, chief commander of the Long March-5B rocket, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council [China's cabinet,] and the Central Military Commission extended congratulations on the successful maiden flight of the Long March-5B on Tuesday.

The Long March-5B carrier rocket also made key breakthroughs including achieving a 'zero window launch' - a term to describe extremely high, second-level accuracy of the launch procedure, separation technology between a payload cabin of a large diameter and the rocket body, and high thrust orbiting technology, Li Dong, chief designer of the Long March-5 rocket, told the Global Times.

Such key technological breakthroughs are exclusively relevant to the imminent construction of the space station,, Li explained.

Ji Qiming, an official with China's Manned Space Agency, revealed at a Tuesday press conference that China eyes to complete the construction of its space station by roughly 2022 which includes 12 flight missions.

After the Tuesday debut flight of the Long March-5B, there will be launch missions of the Tianhe core cabin, Wentian and Mengtian lab cabins—which are modules of the space station, Ji said.

There will also be four launch missions each for the Shenzhou manned spaceship and the Tianzhou cargo spaceship, to allow astronauts to rotate time in space and cargo supply.

Photo: Tu Haichao

Photo: Tu Haichao The One-and-a-half stage

The Long March-5B carrier rocket with one core stage and four boosters - which is known as a half stage - makes it the first heavy-lift rocket with liquid rocket propellant that has adopted such a one-and-half stage into orbit technology in China, according to a statement from the rocket developer, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

Such a one-and-a-half stage mode would remarkably increase the rocket system's reliability as the fewer the stages, the simpler the complexity of the system would be. And the reduced time of stage separation also lowers the chance of malfunctions, per the CALT statement.

The one-and-a-half mode also means better cost efficiency, and such technology has been widely applied in countries like Russia in their space projects with a high rate of success, Song Zhongping, a military and space technology expert, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the maiden flight of the Long March-5B would fill in a blank space in China's carrier rocket category, and declared that China has entered the world's first-class league in terms of large-scale Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) carrier rocket technology capabilities.

The new rocket, using clean fuels such as liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene, weighed 849 tons at launch and has a take-off thrust of around 1,078 tons, enabling it to carry payloads no less than 22 tons into LEO, CALT told the Global Times.

The 22-ton LEO carrying capability of the Long March-5B means that it could send three Tiangong-1 labs into space on one go, Wang Xiaojun, the CALT head, was quoted as saying in the statement.

From the Long March-1's launch capability of 173 kilograms to the Long March-5B's 22 tons, China's space program has set up a much bigger platform for development, Wang said.

Photo: Tu Haichao

Similar in appearance, different in services

The Long March-5B is a smaller variant of the Long March-5, which is currently the strongest member of China's carrier rocket family, and nicknamed by space fans as the "Fat Five" due to its chubby shape. Both rockets belong to the Long March-5 launch vehicle series as they have a similar appearance.

Observers are able to tell the difference between the two brother models of the Long March-5 series by simply looking at the size of their payload fairing and the nose cone on the top of a rocket to protect it against impact pressure and heating during launch through the atmosphere.

Long March-5B possesses the largest payload fairing among all Chinese carrier rockets to date, with a height of 20.5 meters - as tall as a six-story building - and a diameter of 5.2 meters, which, according to the CALT, is customized for the spaceship's launch mission.

Also, the two Long March-5 models vary significantly in the type of services they are supposed to provide. The Long March-5 is mainly used to send large-scale satellites, as well as deep space explorers such as the Chang'e-5 lunar probe and Mars probes, into high Earth orbit, whereas the Long March-5B is the go-to type for launch missions for spacecraft such as the core and lab cabins of the future space station into LEO.

Two more launch missions of the Long March-5 carrier rocket series will be conducted this year. The Long March-5 Y4 will launch the country's first Mars probe by the second half of the year, and the Long March-5 Y5 will send the Chang'e-5 lunar probe to the moon, returning with moon surface samples as the highlight of the mission, according to the CALT.

The Long March-5B launch vehicle at the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South China's Hainan Province Photo: Tu Haichao

The Long March-5B launch vehicle at the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South China's Hainan Province Photo: Tu Haichao


  The ready lineup of 'three warriors'

By the completion of the Long March-5B's maiden flight, all three types of carrier rockets, dubbed the "three warriors" that are commissioned specially for China's manned space projects, are now ready in place.

The three carrier rockets in this series are the Long March-2F, the Long March-7 and the Long March-5B.

Jing Muchun, chief commander of the Long March-2F, told the Global Times that in the past two decades, the Long March-2F has sent five unmanned, six manned spaceships and two space labs into space with a 100 percent success rate.

The 13 successful Long March-2F missions include one sending Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, into space in 2003.

The Long March-2F has developed two working modes for manned and cargo-only missions, in order to meet the requirements of China's manned space missions.

The Long March-7 is known as the "charted train" for space cargo with a launch capability of 13.5 tons into LEO, and 5.5 tons into 700-kilometer-solar synchronous orbit (SSO.)

"The Long March-7 will be in charge of cargo shipments for the space station, delivering basic material supplies such as water, food and spacesuits for the astronauts. It will also be used to provide necessary material supplies for the space station maintenance as well as conducting in-orbit refueling missions for the space stations," Meng Gang, chief commander of the Long March-7, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The Long March-2F, the Long March-7 and the Long March-5B carrier rockets will work jointly to build the country's upcoming space station, carrying out launch missions for the space station cabins, spaceship and cargo shuffles respectively, per the CALT statement.

China aims to complete the construction of its space station around 2022. The space station will be a T shape with the Tianhe core module at the center and a lab capsule on each side. The core module - at 16.6 meters long and 4.2 meters in diameter, with a takeoff weight of 22.5 ton - will be the management and control center, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

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How China's industrial Internet is fighting Covid-19

"For most people alive today, anywhere in the world, we have never faced a crisis of such magnitude. It is the first true test of our ability to stand together in the face of a common enemy"

An aerial view shows the newly completed Huoshenshan Hospital. Digital tools helped coordinate its design and construction-Image: REUTERS

• Taking advantage of emerging technologies, including Big Data and artificial intelligence, has enabled China to respond rapidly to the impacts of COVID-19 and to fight against its spread;

• New hospitals were built in record time and millions of students were able to resume their learning online thanks to the industrial internet;

• From coordinating community volunteers to offer municipal programmes online, digital platforms have helped empower citizens in the fight against the virus.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought huge challenges across the globe.

There are contradictions and conflicts, but also an unprecedented spirit within humanity to defeat this scourge. Beyond national borders, countries are working together to combat the coronavirus, utilizing joint prevention and control mechanisms while sharing resources and information.

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In China, people have joined together to contain the virus’ spread. Their achievements have been nothing short of heroic given the exponential rise in confirmed cases, a huge and densely-packed population and the world’s largest human migration simultaneously occurring during the Chinese New Year festivities in January and February.

The involvement of Tencent, a Chinese internet technology company, in promoting the power of digital, is testament to the rise of the industrial internet in the fight against the virus.

While the consumer internet provides services such as social networking and e-commerce to consumers who are self-isolating, its industrial counterpart, focusing primarily on business and industry, has worked to safeguard society’s normal operation, making a profound contribution which we will call the “ACE effect”.

Accelerator: a new speed record

Incorporating technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, Big Data and cloud computing, the industrial internet is a new, pan-industry infrastructure. Connecting data, while promoting data sharing and its evolving importance, enables the coordination of the entire industry chain. This has given the Chinese manufacturing industry a dramatic boost, leading to an amazing string of new production records.

An excellent example is the newly built Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals, which offer 2,600 beds in total.

Containing the virus’ spread required additional facilities to handle the patient load and construction workers took just 10 days and 12 days respectively to build and equip both. Digital tools like BIM (Building Information Modelling), allowed the hospitals’ design institutes to utilize the industrial internet, bringing together hundreds of BIM designers nationwide. The hospitals’ design plans were produced in 24 hours and construction drawings in only 60 hours. Onsite construction was so well-organized that thousands of machines were monitored and coordinated in real-time through an industrial internet platform.


https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1421909607991805

From 1 January to 7 February, more than 3,000 Chinese companies incorporated the production of medical supplies into their business scopes, dynamically increasing the production scale of masks, protective clothing and disinfectants. The industrial internet has enabled this rapid, cross-sector production. A well-aligned, start-to-finish and modular industry chain allowed companies to rapidly change processes and produce new product types while absorbing large-scale changes to volume, capacity or capability.

Change-maker: the cyber-world becomes the real world

The outbreak increased the digitalization of sectors including medical services, office work and education. In turn, these newly digital products have reshaped people’s perceptions and behaviours. Society has experienced an irreversible leap into digital life.

Following the outbreak, Tencent, Alibaba and vertical online healthcare platforms like DXY began offering the public remote medical services. People consulted with online doctors, conducted self-assessments and decided whether to go to a hospital for further medical checks or remain at home. These simple screening tools reduced non-essential hospital visits and caregiver workloads while mitigating the risks of cross-infection.

Remote technology has enabled hospitals to share their best resources over great distances. Thanks to China’s 5G networks, many Wuhan hospitals, have been able to connect with counterparts in Beijing, allowing experts in the capital to provide real-time consultation based on ultra-high-definition images.

China is leading the way in development of 5G technology China is leading the way in development of 5G technology Image: Statista

Keeping 276 million students learning online has advanced the digitalization of education. In mid-February, the government ordered more than a quarter of a billion full-time students to resume their studies through online platforms - the largest “online movement” in the history of education. Hundreds of industrial internet-based online educational platforms now provide free-of-charge, individual live streaming services or share their open class content. During the Spring Festival period, Tencent Classroom alone added nearly 1.28 million new users.

Starting with remote offices, the digitalization of business and human resource management has moved up the agendas of corporate managers. Online collaborative platforms from Tencent, Alibaba, Huawei, Byte Dance and Baidu have been refined to meet surging consumer demand. Tencent Conference added more than 100,000 Cloud Hosts in only eight days between 29 January and 6 February.

Enabler: a new co-governance model for modern society

During this period a new type of social governance has arisen; one enabled by the industrial internet. Governments now actively engage partners to improve the efficiency and quality of municipal services. Empowered by digital tools, communities and people are active stakeholders in social governance. Co-governance, involving multiple participants, is emerging as a new model for today’s increasingly complicated society.

In China, the digital provision of municipal services infiltrates government agencies in many cities. The outbreak has expedited this process and agencies have digitized further. By 8 February, there were 100-plus municipal service “mini programmes” featuring epidemic status information. On WeChat, these programmes grew their users by nearly 60% in under 3 weeks.

Importantly, the industrial internet has empowered communities and people in the war against COVID-19. Through digital platforms, volunteer teams of residents within communities assist in disinfection and deliver supplies aided by digital community management and communication tools.

US cases of COVID-19 have now surpassed those in China US cases of COVID-19 have now surpassed those in China Image: Statista

In addition, the advent of the “Health QR Code” lets users submit information regarding travel to major epidemic outbreak regions and details close contact with infected people and other relevant information. A three-colour scale indicates the person’s recent virus-related health history, enabling them to cooperatively comply with virus-related prevention and control policies.

Through the “ACE effect”, the industrial internet provides a fundamental infrastructure for empowering individuals and organizations. Enterprises, government and individuals have all actively engaged in the war on COVID-19 through the advantage supplied by this technology and the advantage this creates has helped China to almost stop the outbreak.

What is the World Economic Forum doing about the coronavirus outbreak?

A new strain of Coronavirus, COVID 19, is spreading around the world, causing deaths and major disruption to the global economy.

Responding to this crisis requires global cooperation among governments, international organizations and the business community, which is at the centre of the World Economic Forum’s mission as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum has created the COVID Action Platform, a global platform to convene the business community for collective action, protect people’s livelihoods and facilitate business continuity, and mobilize support for the COVID-19 response. The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action.

As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched – bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus.

The Forum has created the COVID Action Platform, a global platform to convene the business community for collective action, protect people’s livelihoods and facilitate business continuity, and mobilize support for the COVID-19 response. The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action.

As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched – bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus.

These enabling capabilities will outlast the COVID-19 pandemic and make lasting contributions to the sustainable development of mankind. Tencent’s partnership with the UN, in recognition of its upcoming 75th anniversary, is a good example. The initiative will ask millions of participants worldwide how our planet should look in 2045 and what role international cooperation can play in solving our common challenges, both now and in the future.

For most people alive today, anywhere in the world, we have never faced a crisis of such magnitude. It is the first true test of our ability to stand together in the face of a common enemy.

Now is the time for neighbourliness, not hostility. Let this event serve as a wake-up call: our governments must be responsible to the people and enter into a collaborative relationship for the well-being of this and future generations. Should we lose, then we lose together; when we achieve victory it will be because we did it together.

Lau Sengyee, Senior Executive Vice President, Chairman of Group Marketing and Global Branding, Tencent

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China leads the ways in high public confidence

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What an incredible fighter ！！ more powerful than the J-20 and F-35！

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Factstell: There's no need for China to apologize about COVID-19: New coronavirus carriers found in Italy; Chinese police wear AI helmets to check pedestrians’ body temperature

https://youtu.be/-wA2aMdCGZM

New coronavirus carriers found in Italy

According to the latest reports from the Italian media, the "patient No. 1" in Italy has been found so far. The large-scale outbreak of the new crown in Italy is directly related to the trajectory of "Patient No. 1". Before the diagnosis, the patient had participated in many gathering sports events such as the 10,000-person marathon and football match, and dine with friends many times.

Within half a month, "patient No. 1" affected 50,000 people and 10 towns. It is worth noting that the Italian "patient No. 1" was infected with the new coronavirus after taking a vacation to Hawaii, USA, and had no history of Chinese residence. Therefore, from this perspective, the outbreak of the Italian epidemic has nothing to do with China.

Not only does the epidemic in Italy have nothing to do with China, other infected countries have no direct relationship with China. Researchers in the United States have reinvestigated people who died from the flu, and most have died of the new coronavirus. An elderly person infected with the new coronavirus has never contacted outsiders in rural Japan, and there are also cases in Spain and Iran. So the origin of the new coronavirus is not China! !!

Friends to help turn around, it is best to let unsuspecting foreigners also see that this is not a Chinese virus. For the innocence of China, please forward, thank you

Italy quarantines millions in virus lockdown around Venice, Milan

A man wearing a protective mask passes by the Coliseum in Rome on March 7, 2020 amid fear of Covid-19 epidemic. — AFP

ROME: Millions of people were placed under forced quarantine in northern Italy early Sunday as the government approved drastic measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus that is sweeping the globe.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Twitter he had signed off on plans to strictly limit movement into and out of a large area including Venice and the financial capital Milan for nearly a month.

“#Coronavirus, the new decree is finally approved,“ Conte wrote, confirming reports published by Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper and other media.

With more than 230 fatalities, Italy has recorded the most deaths from the Covid-19 disease of any country outside China.

The total number of people infected with the virus worldwide has passed 100,000 while 3,500 have died across 95 nations and territories.

According to Corriere Della Sera, without a “serious” reason that cannot be postponed people will not be allowed to enter or leave the entire Lombardy region around Milan – home to 10 million – as well as areas around and including Venice and the cities of Parma and Rimini.

Museums, nightclubs, gyms and casinos will be closed in these areas, the newspaper reported, adding that the measures would be in place until April 3. — AFP

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Chinese police wear AI helmets to check pedestrians’ body temperature

Shenzhen, which shares a border with Hong Kong, police have also begun to inspect drivers who come into the city with the help of the helmets. The innovative equipment — named Smart Helmet N901 — is developed by Shenzhen-based tech firm Kuang-Chi for curbing the epidemic. — Pix from Daily Mail

https://youtu.be/U3YO9VMa9V4x

AMID the coronavirus crisis, police officers in China have started wearing AI-powered smart helmets which can automatically take pedestrians’ temperatures as they patrol the streets.

According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), the high-tech headgear has an infrared camera attached to it. It will scan the people within the radius of 5 metres which will light up and sound an alarm if anyone within the radius has a body temperature above 37.3°C.

The helmets are equipped with QR codes scanner and facial recognition features. It will display their personal information in a virtual screen inside when a police officer passes by a pedestrian. They are also furnished with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 5G connectivity.

SinChew Daily reported that with the help of this helmet, two police officers were able to scan a total of 100 people on the streets in less than two minutes.

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Imported COVID-19 cases primary source of new infection in China: official data

The imported COVID-19 cases have become the primary source of new infection in China as they accounted for around one third of the daily new cases on Friday, official data suggested Saturday Posted by rig

Chinese varsities hold seven top spots in world ranking

Beijing: Universities from the Chinese mainland have secured seven of the top 10 positions in the Times Higher Education’s Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020 for the third straight year.

Tsinghua University maintained its position at the top in the listing of institutions from emerging economies.

Peking University was in second place for the second year running.

Zhejiang University and the University of Science and Technology of China remain in third and fourth place, while Shanghai Jiao Tong University climbed from eighth to sixth. Fudan University was listed in seventh place, while Nanjing University was ninth.

Other institutions in the top 10 include Moscow State University (fifth), National Taiwan University (eighth), and The University of Cape Town (10th).

Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at Times Higher Education, said: “China’s success in our Emerging Economies University Rankings reflects its rapid rise on the world higher education stage. With the Double First Class Initiative driving improvements across participant universities, we expect it to continue to establish itself as a major global player in providing world-class higher education over the coming years.”

The Double First-Class Initiative refers to fostering “world-class universities” and “world-class discipline”. — China Daily/ANN

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Suppressing Chinese media bodes ill for bilateral ties

Some US political elites have been strengthening political mobilization against China and trying to rope in more Western forces to oppose China. Their most prominent act is to attack the leadership of the Communist Party of China and blacken China's political system. They obviously hope to suppress other countries' desire to expand cooperation with China by mobilizing people's political aversion to China.

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China, next global hub for higher education

With its varsities gaining better rankings, the most populous nation is set to become the world’s leading learning destination.

China, next global hub for higher education

.

What ails our Malaysian universities ?

 

Recent discourses about revamping our higher education system have included the following: critical thinking, empowerment, humanistic values, future proof graduates and improvising teaching methods.

Many Malaysians understand “critical thinking” as the ability to criticise something, and “future proof” as being immune from the future. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Politicians, civil servants, parents and civil society activists have uttered these concepts too often. They lament that our education system has failed.

Our leaders say we are a society devoid of critical thinkers. They swear blindly that Malaysians are left behind due to our inability to improvise in this age of rapid technological innovations.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that the developed world uses English to their advantage, but we have not.

Critics also claim that developed nations are more scientific and technologically minded, because they have the ability to think critically.

Innovation, improvisation and critical thinking have always been used in discourses of scientific, technological, technical and vocational education.

A “future proof” graduate with “humanistic values” would have acquired adequate and sustainable mental, spiritual and practical skills by now. Yet it seems the narrative we are familiar with does not tally with the reality, due to our misunderstanding of the fundamentals.

Malaysians can be globally competitive and widely respected if we decide to be consistent in the fundamentals. These fundamentals have not been mentioned as openly, but they are crucial to whether we surge ahead or fall further behind.

First, higher education should not be part of a political football game. Render quality education accessible to all. Do not confine it to a race-based quota system, with respect to student intake or hiring of lecturers and top university administrators.

Second, hire and retain academic staff in universities, based on their intellectual merit. Deans and senior university administrators must be constantly aware of any lecturer who publishes inane works, even though such nonsense may be in the form of 30 journal articles per annum.

For instance, how can research about whether the supernatural can be scientifically proven or not, be beneficial to solving our post-GE14 socio-political and religious problems?

The deans and deputy vice-chancellors must be tuned into the quality of their academic staff. They must have a basic knowledge of their contribution in their respective fields.

A dean in a social science faculty, for instance, must make it a point to have a general knowledge of all the social science fields under their charge. If not, he or she should not be a dean.

Third, heads of departments should have a collegial relationship with their fellow lecturers. There is no room for hierarchy, pulling rank or bullying.

Lecturers within a department must work as a team, within an atmosphere of mutual deference and respect. The head must provide motivation and encouragement, rather than react with jealousy and insecurity.

Academics must be encouraged to speak, deliver public lectures, engage in national and international debates, and be commended for it. Unfortunately, there is an unhealthy and counterproductive culture of egoism, selfishness, jealousy and arrogance in the corridors of our public universities.

Most, if not all, academics in a university have a doctorate. So why should there be a sense of insecurity or superiority?

Fourth, university lecturers must take pride in their teaching and writing. Whether they do so in English, Malay, Mandarin or Tamil is irrelevant.

While one must be practical, what is more important is the positive attitude these academics possess when they engage in honest research.

What they choose as a research agenda and how relevant it is in the Malaysian context should be the decisive factors in academic teaching, writing and research.

Fifth, a lot more effort must go into how syllabuses are devised for various courses. Individual lecturers must take pride in the uniqueness and relevance of their syllabus.

It is my experience that such an important exercise of creating one’s syllabus is actually considered the least important of activities leading up to every semester.

Sixth, publications and research projects must be based on quality, not quantity. In the social sciences, for example, it is ineffectual to expect a new research topic to emerge every year or two, for the sake of satisfying annual KPI requirements of the research universities.

Due to our obsession with chasing KPIs and benchmarking global ranking systems, lecturers have resorted to mass production of publications and research projects. The majority are useless, and reports merely collect dust on dingy shelves.

It seems our university leadership is unaware that academic publishing has become a lucrative global business, with annual revenues exceeding billions of dollars.

This business is closely associated with the world university ranking system. Unsuspecting academics in countries like Malaysia race to publish in journals produced by these publishers, without realising that they are held at economic ransom, regardless of quality or research relevance to individual countries or regions.

It is time that Malaysian universities decide for themselves what research and publications are relevant for our own society, based on the current problems and national unity complications we face.

The high rate of unemployed university graduates is proof that there is a disconnect between what they learn in the universities and what employers want. This is due to a skewed view of the objectives of our higher education, and the quality of our educators.

We also have to be more obsessed with merit and substance, rather than what is politically expedient. For example, the appointment of a non-Malay vice chancellor of any public university in Malaysia should no longer be questioned or considered a sensitive issue.

There should be no hesitation, provided one is qualified academically, and has the right attitude towards teaching, research and intellectual development for national progress.

There is one area of higher education that has never been discussed, even though we constantly address the lack of critical thinkers and intellectuals in Malaysia.

The “Socratic Method” is a method of educational instruction that should be employed in university classrooms, in all fields. It is a method of hypothesis elimination, in that better suppositions are found during a debate or discussion.

The process of discussion involves asking a series of questions formulated as tests of logic. Instead of answering questions directly, questions are answered in the form of another question, which prompts the person or group to discover their beliefs about a topic, on their own. In this situation, the active participation of the lecturer is paramount.

Therefore, the Socratic Method encourages constant dialogue in the classroom, and sharpens the mind in logic, reason and arguments. In the process, students develop self confidence and a desire to read widely so they can engage more in classroom discussion. A silent student would feel embarrassed in a class full of chatty, logical peers.

While it is good to incorporate audio-visual techniques and other forms of innovative technology into teaching, university lecturers should not neglect the power of dialogue.

The Socratic Method would generate a cohort of graduates who will perform well in a job interview, show confidence and display a wide range of knowledge in the field. It also keeps lecturers on their toes and forces them to be updated in their respective fields. This is genuine educational empowerment, not mere rhetoric, based on fancy global terminology.


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China's largest carrier rocket Long March-5 makes new flight; BDS-3 satellite system (GPS) to complete before June 2020, Space Station operational in 2022

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VideoFromSpace 838K subscribers A Chinese Long March 5 Y3 rocket launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Cente in south China on Dec. 27, 2019. It was carrying the Shijian-20 communications satellite. --Full Story: https://www.space.com/china-long-marc... Credit: China Central Television - CCTV

The Long March 5 is an essential booster for China's space ambitions. The heavy-lift booster will be the one to launch China's space station modules as well as a  Mars lander in 2020 and the Chang'e 5 moon sample-return mission.

China is also expected to use a version of the Long March 5, called the Long March 5B, to launch  a new crewed spacecraf — the successor to its current Shenzhou crew capsule.

The rocket stands 184 feet (56 meters) tall and weighs nearly 2 million lbs. (867,000 kilograms) at liftoff. It is capable of carrying payloads of up to 55,000 lbs. (25,000 kilograms) into low Earth orbit. It can haul up 31,000 lbs. (14,000 kg) to a higher geostationary transfer orbit.
https://www.space.com/china-long-march-5-rocket-2019-launch-success.html

Long March-5 milestone signals new era for Chinese space exploration

China's Long March-5 carrier rocket was successfully launched at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province on Friday. Standing at an impressive 57 meters tall and with a diameter of 5 meters, the rocket will send a test satellite into planned orbit. The endeavor marks a significant leap forward since the carrier rocket's maiden mission in 2016 and through a failed attempt in 2017.

China launches its largest carrier rocket Long March-5 Y3

https://youtu.be/Lc-RfXjERqg

The Long March-5 rocket, China's largest carrier rocket, was successfully launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province on Friday night.

The rocket lifted off at 8:45 p.m. Beijing time, carrying the Shijian-20 technological experiment satellite weighing over eight tonnes, the heaviest and most advanced communications satellite in the country.

About 2,220 seconds later, the satellite was sent into its planned orbit and the launch mission was declared a success.

Long March-5 Y3 launches Shijian-20

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China's largest carrier rocket Long March-5 makes new flight

China launched the third Long March-5, the largest carrier rocket of the country, from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province on Friday evening.

The rocket, coded as Long March-5 Y3, blasted off from the coastal launch center at 8:45 p.m. (Beijing time), carrying the Shijian-20 technological experiment satellite weighing over eight tonnes, the heaviest and most advanced communications satellite of the country.

About 2,220 seconds later, the satellite was sent into its planned orbit.

Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), declared the launch a success.

The success of the flight lays the foundation for a series of future space projects for the country including exploring Mars, returning moon samples and constructing its own space station, Wu said.

The Shijian-20 satellite will be used to test the key technologies of the DFH-5 platform, China's new-generation large satellite platform, and offer communication and broadcasting service, Wu said.

The Long March-5 is a large, two-stage rocket, capable of carrying a payload of 25 tonnes, equivalent to the weight of 16 cars, to low Earth orbit, 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit, eight tonnes to Earth-Moon transfer orbit, or five tonnes to Earth-Mars transfer orbit, over twice the capacity of the current main Long March series rockets. Combined with an upper stage, the rocket is capable of sending probes to explore Jupiter and other planets in the solar system, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

The Long March-5 made its maiden flight on Nov. 3, 2016 from Wenchang. However, the second large rocket, Long March-5 Y2, suffered a failure, as a malfunction happened less than six minutes after its liftoff on July 2, 2017.

The research team has found that the failure was caused by a problem in the engine of the first core stage of the rocket. "We have made improvements to the design, materials and technologies of the engine," said Li Dong, chief designer of the Long March-5 rocket from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) under the CASC.

Compared with the Long March-5 Y2, the new rocket has more than 200 technological improvements, said Yang Hujun, deputy chief designer of the rocket.

The modified engine has undergone more than 10 ground tests lasting over 3,000 seconds in total.

"Over the past two years, the research team has solved the problem of the engine and improved the reliability of the rocket," said Wang Jue, chief commander of the research team.

The carrying capacity of the Long March-5 rocket equals that of other mainstream large-scale rockets in the global industry, greatly improving China's ability to launch spacecraft and laying the foundation for developing new-generation carrier rockets and heavy-lift launch vehicles, said Wang Xiaojun, head of the CALT.

The rocket is about 57 meters long, equivalent to the height of a 20-story building, with a 5-meter diameter core stage and four 3.35-meter diameter boosters. The Long March-5 is much larger than China's previous carrier rockets. It has a takeoff weight of about 870 tonnes and a thrust of over 1,000 tonnes.

The four boosters, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the CASC, shoulder over 90 percent of the takeoff thrust.

The rocket uses environmentally friendly fuel, including kerosene, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, rather than highly toxic propellants.

It is equipped with eight liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engines in four strap-on boosters, two liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines in the first stage and two relatively small liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines in the second stage.

The weight of the rocket itself only accounts for about 10 percent of the liftoff weight, and the other 90 percent is the weight of the propellants.

The research team has made efforts to decrease the weight of the rocket in its design. For instance, the thickness of the rocket shell in some parts is only a few millimeters, according to Li Linsheng, a structural strength analysis designer of the rocket.

The temperature of liquid hydrogen is minus 253 degrees centigrade, and the temperature of liquid oxygen is minus 173 degrees centigrade. The maximum temperature of the fuel during combustion in the rocket engine is more than 3,300 degrees centigrade.

China built the Wenchang Space Launch Center, the country's fourth space launch center, for the Long March-5 and other new-generation carrier rockets. The center is located on the coast of the tropical island province of Hainan, which avoids possible damage caused by the falling rocket remnants.

In the center is the country's largest and most advanced launch pad that is 70 meters tall, equivalent to the height of a 24-story building, and covers an area of 600 square meters, the same size as half a basketball court.

China to complete Beidou-3 satellite system BDS (GPS) before June 2020

China exports Beidou system products to over 120 countries, regions

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China's GPS rival BeiDou to go global by June 2020

China's BeiDou-3 system, a global geolocation network, is expected to be completed by June 2020, providing global users with high-quality services including navigation, positioning and data communication.

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China will finish the construction of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3), with another two geostationary orbit satellites to be launched before June 2020, said BDS Spokesperson Ran Chengqi on Friday.

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of China's BDS-3 system providing global service.

Ran said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that with the BDS as the core, a more ubiquitous, integrated and intelligent navigation and timing system with comprehensive national positioning is scheduled to be established by 2035.

China sent 10 BDS satellites into space in 2019. The deployment of the core BDS-3 constellation system has been completed with all of the BDS-3 system's medium earth orbit satellites being networked.

With the system's upgraded intelligent operation and maintenance capabilities, the BDS-3 has provided stable and accurate services, boasting a positioning accuracy of better than five meters.

The BDS system has multiple service capabilities, including satellite-based augmentation, short message communication, ground augmentation as well as international search and rescue. It will provide more diversified services with better performance and higher accuracy in 2020, Ran said.

A series of documents on the BDS system were also released to promote the understanding of the system and facilitate its use. The documents were published on the official website of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System.

The BDS system has seen thriving applications in many areas and has fostered an industrial ecosystem, Ran said.

The 22nm process navigation and positioning chip supporting BDS-3's new signal has a smaller volume, lower power consumption and higher accuracy, and has realized large-scale application.

The new generation of BDS system-related products including high-precision antennas, boards, and broadband radio frequency chips has been developed.

The BDS system has also seen increasing applications in emerging fields such as the industrial Internet and Internet of Things, as well as autonomous driving, parking and logistics.

With the arrival of the 5G commercial era, BDS is accelerating the integration with new technologies such as the next generation of mobile communication, blockchain and artificial intelligence, Ran said.

The BDS system is playing an important role in many industries including transportation, agriculture, forestry and energy. It supports China's dynamic monitoring system for more than 6.5 million vehicles. It will further facilitate railway transportation, inland river shipping, ocean navigation and the management of transportation infrastructure construction, Ran said.

Ran said China is continuously promoting the development of a legal system for satellite navigation.

China's applications for satellite navigation patents have increased rapidly, and the number has reached 70,000, ranking the first in the world.

More BDS-related national standards and special standards will be released to ensure a sound environment for its industrial application, Ran added. - Xinhua

China plans to complete space station construction around 2022: expert

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China Aerospace started from scratch, and by 2019, the country is ushering in a phase of superspace programs: the Chang’e-4 lunar probe was successfully launched, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System began providing global services and the Long March rockets have been launched over 300 times. The emergence of each set of data proves that China, once trailing behind in the global space programs, has now earned its place in the global space-program competition, and is tapping into a new field. Check out this video and have a look at why China can build its own space station.

See China’s Tiangong-2 Space Station Re-Enter Earth’s Atmosphere

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China’s Tiangong-2 Space Station re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up over the Pacific Ocean on July 19, 2019. A camera aboard Tiangong-2 captured imagery

Lift-off soon for China’s space station mission

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China has announced the imminent launch of a mission that will start the process of building a space station by 2022. Making the announcement on February 4, 2019, Chinese space programme officials said astronauts are currently being recruited and trained, with drills and joint tests scheduled for the latter half of 2019. The space station will consist of three modules – a core cabin and two lab modules – and will be able to accommodate three astronauts working simultaneously. China is a relative latecomer to such space programmes since it was not a partner in the International Space Station (ISS), the habitable artificial satellite which was launched into orbit in 1998 and supporting its first long-term residents by November 2000. China has been opening up to international cooperation, however, agreeing with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to develop opportunities for scientists from around the world to carry out research on board the Chinese space station after it is operational in 2022.

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