Long March-5 rocket in position for China's first Mars probe

Infographic: GT

Photo: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

China has taken another major step toward its first Mars probe mission, Tianwen-1. The Long March-5 Y4, the carrier rocket commissioned for the probe, was vertically transported to the launch area at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province on Friday morning ahead of the launch scheduled to take place between the end of July and the beginning of August, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA.)

According to a CNSA press release the Global Times attained on Friday, the Long March-5 Y4 rocket arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in late May this year, and has completed preparation work including assembly and pre-launch tests.

On Friday Morning, the carrier rocket was transferred to the launch area after a smooth roll-out from the assembly building, which took around two hours, the CNSA said.

Propellant will be injected into the rocket after further functional checks and final inspections. And then the rocket will be launched according to schedule.

The minimum distance between Mars and Earth is about 55 million kilometers, and the two planets only come that close every 26 months, state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the mission's contractor, told the Global Times in June. The Mars exploration window is open between July and August.

The final launch date of China's Mars probe mission will be determined by environmental factors including weather conditions, the distance between Earth to Mars and the launch center's overall condition, as well as a small but more decisive factor, the technical readiness inspection before launch, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of the Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Friday.

There must be no rainfall, with a ground wind speed of below 8 meters per second and horizontal visibility above 20 kilometers, Beijing-based space expert Pang Zhihao told the Global Times.

Moreover, from eight hours before launch until one hour after launch, 30 to 40 kilometers of surrounding areas should have no thunder activity, and wind speeds should be weaker than 70 meters per second in skies 3 to 18 kilometers above the launch area, Pang said, noting that winds at 8 to 15 kilometers above ground would affect the rocket's flight form.

A wind speed difference in the lower and upper air could twist the rocket's body, leading to failure, he said.

The UAE's mission to Mars has been rescheduled for launch between July 20 and 22, the UAE government announced on Thursday.

The launch of Japan's Hope probe was postponed twice this week due to unstable weather at its launch site on Japan's Tanegashima island.

"Weather conditions in Hainan are in general better than those in Japan. That was one of the factors China took into consideration when deciding to construct the launch center in the southern island of Hainan," Wang said.

The mission will mark the first application launch of the Long March-5, currently the strongest member of the Chinese carrier rocket family. It will be China's first rocket launch into the Earth-Mars transfer orbit.

The Tianwen-1 Mars probe mission was approved by Chinese authorities on January 2016, and aims to achieve orbiting, landing and roving on the Red Planet in a single mission.

The upcoming launch will be the fourth flight of the Long March-5, following the successful comeback of the state-of-the-art rocket at the end of 2019, more than two

years after a July 2017 launch failure on the rocket's second test flight due to engine problems. Earlier on Tuesday, media reported that spacecraft developer, the China Academy of Space Technology, had revealed the Mars probe which had arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center.

Space experts expressed confidence in the success of China's Mars mission as the country has amassed rich experience from previous lunar probe missions, with the Chang'e-4 landing on the far side of the moon being the major highlight.

"The relay communication technology applied in the Chang'e-4 mission will be particularly valuable for the Mars mission, overcoming the distance challenge for interplanetary spacecraft communication," Wang said.

Source link

Update:

Rocket to lift Mars probe moved to launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the southern island province of Hainan

Related posts:  

China successfully launches 1st Mars probe

Live: China's inaugurates first Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 in southern Hainan Province https://youtu.be/V9BsqPqqQbg Mi.

US versus China – in outer space

New frontier: A November 2019 file photo presented on Monday showing China’s Mars lander's hovering, obstacle avoidance and decele...

China successfully sends final satellite of BeiDou system into space, completes China's GPS Network

 

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

 

US a troublemaker

https://youtu.be/argUC9uFPKA

https://youtu.be/nh1j6HH_aro



https://youtu.be/SeUiZ6uszlI

https://youtu.be/Hm3YJKdblrE

China said it was not afraid of any sanctions the United States might impose over the South China Sea issue, and accused Washington of stirring up trouble in the region and driving a wedge between regional countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying made the remark at a daily news briefing after Reuters reported that David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, warned that Washington could respond with sanctions against Chinese officials and enterprises involved in the South China Sea issue.

Stilwell spoke one day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful”.

Urging Washington to reconsider its policies, Hua said, “As the world’s most developed and powerful country, the only superpower, the US arbitrarily talks about sanctions, which is very pathetic.”

Hua said that Stilwell’s remarks again showed that the US wishes nothing but chaos in the South China Sea and makes the utmost efforts to sow discord between China and other regional countries.

The US has dispatched advanced military aircraft and warships to flex its muscles in the South China Sea, while it also issued a statement to undermine the efforts of regional countries to jointly maintain peace and stability.

Such practices will only make the world more aware of US hypocrisy and hegemony, she said.

According to the US military, a US Navy destroyer carried out a freedom of navigation operation on Tuesday near the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

China will continue to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and rights on the South China Sea issue and maintain friendly cooperation with regional countries, Hua said. — China Daily/ANN

Source link

Related:

ASEAN won't be cannon fodder for US

It will be a shame for regional countries to be manipulated by such an extraterritorial power, abandon our fundamental interests, fall into radical nationalist sentiments, and let Washington reap the benefits of our disputes.

Asia wise enough not to fall into US traps

Asian countries should be firm not to turn territorial disputes into the overriding melody of regional development. This will test the wisdom of regional countries.

US is destroying itself and world through erratic moves

An arms race and intimidation will return to international relations. Age-old contradictions will be reinforced in the loss of a world order. Favorable opinions toward each other's society will be reduced. The passion for studying and traveling abroad will cool down. The lives of many people will change.



Related Posts:

Wang Yi’s response during a press conference on Trump’s demand; 王外長震怒，對美嚴肅警告!

 

'We lied, we cheated, we stole', ‘the Glory of American experiment’ by US Secretary of State/Ex-CIA director Mike Pompeo

Deleted memories and masked conversations by the West and Hong Kongers

Hong Kongers and the West have forgotten that Hong Kong was a forced ‘concession’ territory from China at gunpoint. The colonial history books that Hong Kongers want to preserve portray China as corrupt, evil and oppressive, as if Britain occupied Hong Kong for democratic purposes.

US versus China – in outer space

New frontier: A November 2019 file photo presented on Monday showing China’s Mars lander's hovering, obstacle avoidance and deceleration capabilities being tested at a facility in Huailai, Hebei province. China is scheduled to launch its Mars rover and an orbiter around July 23 in a mission named Tianwen, or ‘Questions for Heaven’. – AP

IF you have been too preoccupied with all the awful stuff happening on Earth, you might have missed something that is shaping up. Up, as in up in space.

I did and it was only recently I caught up somewhat with the New Space Race. That was when I stumbled across the January graduation ceremony of the first class of 13 astronaut candidates comprising seven men and six women under the Artemis programme.

This is the long-awaited successor to the 1960s and 1970s Apollo missions by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). Artemis – goddess of the moon and twin sister of Apollo – is Nasa’s plan to finally return to Earth’s closest celestial body.

The first man to land on the moon was, of course, Neil Armstrong on July 20,1969, and that historic occasion marked the winner of the first space race between the United States and Russia (or USSR as it was then called).

I still remember the excitement of watching RTM’s delayed telecast of the very grainy footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I was all of 10 years old.

The subsequent Apollo missions were very much part of my teenage years, but with the exception of the near disaster of Apollo 13, none of them came close to the global excitement over Apollo 11’s achievement.

That feat will be exactly 51 years old come Monday. Since Dec 14,1972, when Apollo 17 landed, no humans have visited the Moon.

While the six Moon missions did deliver much scientific data and 382kg of lunar soil samples, the race to the moon was essentially a politically-motivated contest to prove American technological prowess over Russian and once achieved, the enormously expensive one-upmanship (total cost was US$20bil) was over.

Nasa went on to do other great stuff like Skylab, the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS), which is still going strong after 20 years.

Without a doubt, for the last 50 years, the United States has held dominance in space exploration. But its pole position is now being challenged in the new space race.

This time it’s between the US and – no surprise – China, which also has its eye on the moon and beyond.

When China sent its first yuhangyuan (meaning “space navigator”) into orbit in the early 2000s, the West chuckled. They wondered what they would do during the flight and a think tank analyst guessed they would do some “physical exercises” and “space medicine-type things”.

No one is laughing now. In January last year, China landed its Chang’e 4 lunar lander on the far side of the moon, the first ever by any nation. (Chang’e is the Chinese moon goddess.)

From there, the Jade Rabbit 2 rover was able to transmit data back to Earth via a satellite that had been previously deployed around the moon for this purpose.

With that successful landing, China proved it has become a force to be reckoned with, which was President Xi Jinping’s declared intention in 2016 – to make China a “space giant” with the Moon as the vital centrepiece.

On May 5, China successfully launched its Long March-5B rocket, which is designed to ultimately transport astronauts into space. That was quickly followed by back-to-back launches of Earth-imaging satellites.

It might have faced a setback when its Kuaizhou-11 rocket carrying low-orbit remote sensing satellites failed to launch on July 10, but that won’t derail China’s plans to launch 60 spacecraft in over 40 launches this year.

What’s more, China plans to have its own space station in operation by the end of 2022. While Nasa partners with several other national space agencies on the International Space Station and welcomes newbie astronauts from many countries, including Malaysia, no yuhangyuan has been allowed on board.

China’s space station will orbit the moon to give it what is known as cislunar domination. Cislunar refers to the space between the earth and the moon and the moon’s orbit. If China succeeds, it will have the space equivalent of the Silk Road, because once cislunar is secured, it can develop a sustainable presence on the moon for in-space manufacturing, mineral extraction, and space-based solar power (SBSP) technology. From that, it can leap into deep space exploration and stage manned missions to Mars.

Nasa’s Artemis programme too has big plans for a permanent station orbiting the moon called the Gateway that would be instrumental to its ambition to send its first manned mission to Mars.

To do that, President Donald Trump proposed a US$4.7bil (RM20bil) budget submission for Nasa for 2021 so that Artemis can ensure “the next man and the first woman on the moon will be American astronauts (by 2024) – using this as a launching pad to ensure America is the first nation to plant its flag on Mars” by 2033.

But the Democrat-controlled Congress isn’t playing ball and wants to push the return-to-moon target date to 2028 because they don’t want it to be a Trump triumph.

This is the rare Trump initiative I actually like and how that will pan out, like his re-election, remains to be seen. But the space race is definitely on. There are other serious players, namely India and the newest – and I must say surprising – contender, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Russia, while maintaining a presence with its participation in the ISS, is by all accounts no longer a serious contender as its space agency Roscosmos is beset with corruption and mismanagement.

In 2014, India’s Space Research Organisation beat China in putting out a satellite in orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth national space agency to reach Mars. In the pipeline is the launch of its first crewed orbital space craft named Gaganyaan by 2022.

Today the UAE will launch its first mission to Mars: A spacecraft called Hope that will orbit the Red Planet to study its atmosphere and weather.

Undoubtedly, there are great bragging rights for a nation that has the means to undertake space exploration, truly the final frontier.

To be fair, the US has been very magnanimous in freely sharing Nasa’s inventions and innovations with the rest of the world. These include baby formula, scratch resistant lenses, artificial limbs, camera phones, athletic shoes, wireless headsets, water purification systems, the computer mouse and freeze-dried food. Just check out inventions we use every day that were actually created for space exploration on usatoday.com or bit.ly/spacethings.

I do wonder whether China will be as magnanimous?

YouTuber and former Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Mark Rober aptly sums up what he considers the five best reasons for space exploration in his video, “Is Nasa a waste of money?”

The one that seems the most far-fetched yet most compelling is finding habitable planets that humans can live on to prevent humanity’s extinction. Earth could be destroyed by a meteor strike or by our own human doing, a possibility which has become more real with the Covid-19 pandemic and worsening climate change.

But space exploration is no longer the sole domain of governments. Increasingly, private sector entities like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Roger Zhang Changwu’s LandSpace have become important players and collaborators.

Still, instead of Artemis versus Chang’e, I wish the US and China can resolve their differences and work together on their space ambitions for the good of humankind instead of turning space into the latest battleground for economic and military supremacy.

I had a glimpse of the future of space exploration in 1995. That was when I visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston and saw the prototype design for the ISS.

That was in my lifetime, as was the 1969 moon landing. I may live long enough to see the first woman to walk on the Moon but perhaps not the Mars manned mission.

That saddens me but it also thrills me to know that it will happen. Bon voyage, astronauts and yuhangyuan!

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

Source link

Read more:

NASA chief says Russia ties 'solid' as Moscow's space chief rejects...

Related posts:

China successfully launches 1st Mars probe

Live: China's inaugurates first Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 in southern Hainan Province https://youtu.be/V9BsqPqqQbg Mi.

Long March-5 rocket in position for China's first Mars probe

Infographic: GT Photo: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation China has taken another major step toward its first

China successfully completes lander tests, preparing for Mars mission in 2020 as it pushes for inclusion in global space projects

China unveils its 2020 Mars probe, Tianwen-1 天問一号

 

China's GPS rival BeiDou to go global

 

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

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

China successfully sends final satellite of BeiDou system into space, completes China's GPS Network

US' withdrawal from the WHO is equivalent of surrendering to the coronavirus ; WHO to send experts to China for cooperation on COVID-19 origin-tracing

US' withdrawal from the WHO is the equivalent of surrendering to the coronavirus

WHO withdrawal US' worst global retreat ever:

Washington's withdrawal from the WHO is the worst among its retreat from various international organizations and treaties. The world should hold Washington accountable for betraying the common interests of humanity.

WHO to send experts to China for cooperation on COVID-19 origin-tracing

After consultation between the two sides, the Chinese government has agreed that the World Health Organization (WHO) will send experts to Beijing to exchange ideas with Chinese scientists and medical experts on science-based cooperation to trace the origin of the COVID-19 virus, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Wednesday.

Noting that WHO experts will be traveling to China to prepare scientific plans for identifying the zoonotic source of the disease, Zhao told a daily press briefing that experts from both sides will develop the scope and Terms of Reference for a WHO-led international mission.

"Virus source tracing is a scientific issue that should be studied by scientists through international research and cooperation across the globe," Zhao said, adding that it is also the view of WHO that it is an ongoing process probably concerning many countries and localities, and WHO will conduct similar trips to other countries and regions in light of the actual need.

Zhao said that the WHO and China have maintained communication and cooperation since the start of the pandemic.

Identifying the origin of emerging viral disease has proven complex in past epidemics in different countries. A well planned series of scientific researches will advance the understanding of animal reservoirs and the route of transmission to humans. The process is an evolving endeavor which may lead to further international scientific research and collaboration globally, Zhao said.

Source link

Read more:

Asia wise enough not to fall into US traps: Global Times editorial

Asian countries should be firm not to turn territorial disputes into the overriding melody of regional development. This will test the wisdom of regional countries.

Global AI collaboration to fight pandemic, revive economies

The future is AI technology

A staff member, wearing a face mask following the Covid-19 outbreak, is looking at a robot at the venue for the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China. Prompted by the need to contain Covid-19, the world is now looking toward AI-based techniques to aid the anti-pandemic fight. - Reuters

SHANGHAI, July 11 (Xinhua): Due to Covid-19, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2020 in Shanghai this week adopted a hybrid model where offline exhibitions and online displays took place simultaneously to showcase the latest artificial intelligence (AI) applications and frontier development.

More than 500 AI experts and executives, including Nobel laureates and Turing Award winners, attended this year's WAIC held from Thursday to Saturday with the theme of "Intelligent Connectivity, Indivisible Community."

AI has already demonstrated its potential to transform societies, economies and industries, but this is just the beginning, according to experts at the conference. WAIC plays a critical role in bringing people together to learn from one another and identify ways of collaborating to achieve more.

AI TECHNOLOGIES FIGHT EPIDEMIC

In recent years, AI has begun to play a significant role in many sectors. Prompted by the need to contain Covid-19, people around the world are looking toward AI-based techniques to aid the anti-pandemic fight.

Companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, SenseTime and iFlytek have been among the first to join the fight. Data modelling, crowd screening, and tracing contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases have been widely used to help control the spread of the coronavirus.

SenseTime, an AI-technology firm with its China headquarters and Global R&D headquarters in Shanghai that specializes in computer vision and deep learning, participated in this year's event.

During the outbreak of Covid-19, SenseTime collaborated with several hospitals and medical institutions across China to assist COVID-19 diagnoses. The company upgraded its diagnosis application, which dramatically improved the effectiveness, accuracy, and speed of the current analysis of CT scans with the help of AI algorithms.

Screening large crowds is another area where AI shows its potential, particularly in public spaces such as the metro. AI firm Megvii, another exhibitor at WAIC, launched a remote temperature measurement system in subway stations in Beijing to help screen out passengers with a high fever. Compared with manual detection, the system can examine up to 300 people in one minute without disrupting passenger flows.

Shen Xiangyang, a professor from Tsinghua University, said during the conference that AI technology could play a significant role in remote diagnoses, vaccine development, virus analysis and global coordination.

With the widespread application of AI products and technologies in the battle against the epidemic, Li Yong, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, said that the technological innovation of AI should go beyond national boundaries to avoid widening the technological gap between developed and developing countries.

AI is also changing the way of scientific research and pharmaceutical manufacture in the healthcare sector.

"Health systems face incredible challenges due to aging populations, increased patient expectations, and the growing prevalence of chronic conditions. Covid-19 has only intensified those challenges," said Pascal Soriot, executive director and CEO of AstraZeneca. "If AI is to play its full part in overcoming them, I believe we need to embrace the opportunity, collaborate, and pursue it together."

NEW ENGINE FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to rising demand for online services, which at the same time created many new scenarios for AI applications. Many experts attending the WAIC saw AI as a new engine to stimulate growth in the post-coronavirus era.

Zhu Min, chairman of the National Institute of Financial Research at Tsinghua University, was upbeat about the prospects of the AI industry. "Our lives underwent fundamental changes when we moved from offline to online activities, making teleworking, online entertainment, shopping, and conferencing part of our daily lives. This provides a broad space for AI development in the future."

China has seen a quickly evolving AI ecosystem in recent years. Many Chinese cities have stepped up efforts in building AI clusters.

Shanghai built the AIsland of the Zhangjiang Science City in the Pudong New Area, an AI cluster for both major AI players and start-ups. Covering an area of 66,000 square meters, the AIsland has attracted about 90 companies, including Microsoft and IBM.

Besides a rapidly expanding AI market, AI companies were also buoyed by a friendly policy environment. In this year's government work report, China called for support on the construction of new types of infrastructure, which is widely regarded as a positive policy signal for cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, AI, and the Internet of Things.

New infrastructure will hopefully start the trend of AI in all aspects of life in China, said Li Yanhong, CEO of Baidu, at the opening ceremony of the WAIC.

The continuous efforts in promoting the AI industry and the construction of new types of infrastructure will boost economic activities following the pandemic, experts said.

Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, was confident of the potential of the collaboration between AI and traditional industries, noting that more traditional industries ranging from manufacturing, medical care to the education sector will focus on improving efficiency in the next decade.

Right before the WAIC 2020, the Shanghai AI Tower was unveiled in the city's Xuhui District, marking another milestone of international AI cooperation.

Twenty leading global AI companies including Microsoft, Huawei, and Alibaba have clustered in the twin buildings on the waterfront along the Huangpu River.

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, who is also co-chair of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, underlined cross-border collaboration and the unity of mankind during a virtual speech at the opening ceremony of the conference.

"We should take responsibility instead of being worried because the virus does not need a passport or sees no national borders. Technology should also have no borders," said Ma. "We have no other choice, so the sooner we start to cooperate, unify, and embrace each other, the sooner we will win," he added. - XInhua

Source link

Read more:

• Covid-19: Current situation in Malaysia (updated daily)

•  
•  

Related Posts:

The fight for digital supremacy

China is at the forefront of a huge revolution in AI. Already, the United States realises it is no longer the leader. Whenever


 Developing AI specialists through collaboration

Go for multi-asset investments in tough times

Embrace multi-asset investments in volatile market I nvestors will need to undertake dynamic multi-asset allocation for managing their in...

 

Be the bull in a bear market – stop procrastination

https://youtu.be/UzoZxKmLOAI We’re almost well into the third quarter of 2020 – have you made headway in any of this year’s fina...