Category: Science &Technology

The satellite named Einstein Probe (EP), which uses new X-ray detection technology inspired by the functioning of a lobster eye, was launched by a Long March-2C carrier rocket at 3:03 p.m. (Beijing Time) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Weighing about 1.45 tonnes and as large as a full-size SUV, the satellite is shaped like a lotus in full bloom and features 12 petals and two stamens.

“This is the most beautiful satellite I’ve ever seen,” said Yuan Weimin, principal investigator of the EP mission and a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The 12 “petals” are actually 12 modules consisting of wide-field X-ray telescopes (WXT), while the two “stamens” consist of two modules of follow-up X-ray telescopes (FXT).

These telescopes form a space observatory which is aimed at helping scientists capture the first light stemming from supernova explosions, search for and pinpoint X-ray signals accompanying gravitational wave events, and discover dormant black holes and other faint transient and variable celestial objects at the far reaches of the universe.

“Since black holes and gravitational waves are predictions made by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, the satellite is named after the great scientist,” Yuan said.

Violent universe

The starry sky visible to human eyes is quiet and peaceful, but in reality, there are many fierce celestial activities in the universe, such as explosions triggered by the death of supermassive stars, black holes tearing apart and devouring stars, and collisions between bizarre neutron stars and black holes, Yuan said.

Ancient Chinese astronomers recorded a bright supernova explosion in 1054 A.D., and the remnants of this event, the Crab Nebula and a neutron star, were found nearly 1,000 years later by modern astronomers.

“These explosive celestial bodies are also part of our universe, and usually at the critical stage of celestial evolution. We are still unclear about many of their physical properties and processes. Studying them can help us better answer the most fundamental scientific questions, such as what the universe is made up of, what physical laws govern the extreme universe, and how stars evolve and die,” Yuan said.

These extraordinary explosions often emit X-rays, which cannot penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. It wasn’t until humans had the ability to send probes into space that the hot and energetic side of the universe was unveiled in the X-ray band.

Lobster eyes in space

Only a limited number of such sudden and unpredictable explosive celestial bodies and events, so-called transient sources, have been found in the deep universe beyond our own galaxy. “It’s like fishing in a river. We need a very large net, since we don’t know where the fish will come from,” said Ling Zhixing, a WXT instrument scientist.

WXT on the satellite are the “large nets” used by scientists to capture their “prey” in the universe. The 12 modules can keep an eye on one-twelfth of the entire sky at one glance, according to Ling.

Scientists mimicked the special structure of the lobster eye in developing WXT, which can simultaneously achieve wide-field observation and X-ray focused imaging.

FXT, developed by an international team led by Chinese scientists, feature high sensitivity and are not only suitable for rapid follow-up observation, but also able to independently discover explosive and transient sources, said Chen Yong, a researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the CAS, who is responsible for the development of FXT.

When lobster-eye telescopes receive X-ray signals from a transient source, the onboard computer will process the data in real time and pivot the spacecraft to target the celestial body with FXT. FXT will then conduct high-precision follow-up observation. The two telescopes will complement and cooperate with each other, said Zhang Chen, assistant to the EP mission’s principal investigator.

The team also developed CMOS sensors for X-ray observation in space, which is an innovative X-ray astronomical detector, Zhang said.

The mission aims to conduct a high-cadence survey and monitoring of high-energy transient sources, search for cloaked black holes and study their formation and evolution. The probe will also be used to search for X-ray signals accompanying gravitational wave events and to pinpoint them. Neutron stars, white dwarfs, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts are also observation targets of this mission.

“I’m looking forward to discovering new phenomena and celestial bodies that have never been seen before,” Yuan said.

The European Space Agency and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany are also participating in this mission.

The two satellites, the 57th and 58th satellites of the BeiDou system, were launched at 11:26 a.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage attached to the carrier rocket.

They are the first medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites launched since BDS-3 was formally commissioned to provide satellite navigation services worldwide. After entering their orbit and completing in-orbit tests, they will be connected to the BeiDou system.

Compared to previous MEO satellites of the BeiDou system, the newly launched satellites have upgraded functions and performance in various areas, including global short message communication capacity, onboard atomic clock technology, and intelligent payloads.

They will upgrade the reliability and service capabilities of the BeiDou system. They will also lay the foundation for the development of next-generation BDS satellites.

The launch was the 504th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.

The satellites and launch vehicle were respectively developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, both of which are affiliated with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The two satellites will play multiple roles by effectively expanding the communication capacity of BeiDou’s global short messages, upgrading the performance monitoring of the integrity of its navigation signals globally, and more, said Xie Jun, deputy chief designer of the BDS.

On July 31, 2020, China commissioned BDS officially, opening BDS-3 to global users, making China the third country around the world to have an independent global navigation satellite system.

The carrier rocket blasted off at 7:39 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent three satellites — Honghu, Honghu-2 and TY-33 — into planned orbit.

It was the third flight mission of the Zhuque-2 carrier rocket.

The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center launched the rocket from waters off the coast of Yangjiang, south China’s Guangdong Province, at 3:24 a.m. (Beijing Time).

The launch is the second mission of the Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket series.

The commercial rocket blasted off at 7:33 a.m. (Beijing Time).

The launch was the 11th flight mission to use the CERES-1 rocket series.

Developed by Beijing-based Galactic Energy, CERES-1 is a small-scale solid-propellant carrier rocket designed to send micro-satellites to low orbit.

The commercial rocket is 1.4 meters in diameter, and has a total length of about 20 meters and a takeoff weight of 33 tonnes. It can carry a payload of up to 300 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 km.

With the capacity to carry both a single satellite and multiple satellites, the CERES-1 commercial rocket can be used for various tailored launch missions.

Galactic Energy has served 16 commercial satellite customers and launched a total of 35 commercial satellites of various types.

Tuesday’s launch mission is the first by this commercial rocket developer to successfully send satellites to the twilight orbit.

The twilight orbit is a special type of sun-synchronous orbit in which the satellite crosses the equator at approximately 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., exactly when the local sun rises and sets.

This means the satellite can always be illuminated by sunlight as the orbital plane and the Earth’s twilight line are approximately coincident. Therefore, the satellite can receive adequate and continuous energy supply.

One satellite carried by the CERES-1 Y9 rocket on Tuesday will focus on meteorological environment detection, while the other will provide real-time wide-area comprehensive perception satellite application services.

The satellite, Zhongxing-6E, was launched at 7:23 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully.

This launch marked the 496th mission to use a Long March series carrier rocket.

Shenzhou-16’s return capsule, carrying astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 8:11 a.m. (Beijing Time), and the crew had all left the return capsule by 9:10 a.m., according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The Shenzhou-16 astronauts are in good health and the Shenzhou-16 manned mission proved a success, while also marking that all three kinds of astronauts currently available in China, namely spacecraft pilot, spaceflight engineer and payload expert, had completed their flight assessments and practical tests, the CMSA said.

This mission has laid a good foundation for the subsequent development and construction of the crewed spaceflight program and large-scale space science experiments, the CMSA added.

“I am very excited at this moment as we have finally come back home and returned to our motherland,” said Jing, the mission commander and the first Chinese astronaut to complete four space missions, which amounted to over 200 days.

“During our mission, the crew lived a happy life and worked efficiently. All operations were carried out without any mistakes,” said Jing while sitting on a chair in front of the capsule.

Zhu, the country’s first spaceflight engineer in space, said they coordinated well in successfully completing various tasks and witnessed the glorious space station Tiangong, the country’s national space laboratory, during the five-month mission. “China’s space station is always worth looking forward to,” Zhu added.

“I will stick to my original aspiration and mission as an astronaut and a teacher with practical actions, and look forward to traveling to the country’s space station again to explore more scientific mysteries,” said Gui, China’s first civilian astronaut and first payload expert in space.

The return capsule separated from Shenzhou-16’s orbiting capsule at 7:21 a.m. The brake engine then ignited and the return capsule separated from the propulsion capsule.

The ground search team arrived at the landing site soon after the return capsule landed.

China launched the manned spaceship Shenzhou-16 on May 30, 2023. It was the first crewed mission of the application and development stage of China’s space station.

Its crew, which remained in orbit for 154 days, carried out a total of 70 space experiments, performed a space walk, delivered a lecture from the space station, and on several occasions assisted with the movement of cargo.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off at 11:14 a.m. Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-17 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members, consisting of Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the CMSA said.

Experiments

The spacecraft carries a batch of biotechnology experiment samples for space protein molecular assembly and application research, including proteins, polypeptides, nucleic acids, biomaterials and medicines.

The microgravity environment in space provides a relatively uniform and stable environment for protein crystal growth, allowing scientists to determine the biological functions of protein molecules more accurately.

The experiments will help researchers study the effects of the microgravity environment and radiation on molecular structure, biological function, drug efficacy and pharmacology, guiding the design and development of molecular drugs.

The astronauts will also work on the research and development of biodegradable bionic bones, and their work will be of great significance to bionic biotechnology.

The astronauts will transfer the experiment samples to the space station and carry out planned scientific experiments.

Dozens of medical experiments will also be carried out during the mission, according to the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.

The experiments take weightlessness and radiation into consideration. They will study the impacts of long-term missions in space on the health and behaviors of astronauts, and explore advanced health care technologies, the center said.

More experiments will be conducted based on systematically obtained astronaut data and samples, aiming to deepen research into the laws and mechanisms of human adaptation to space.

The mission will also seek to develop advanced technologies for long-term space residence health assessment, improve the country’s self-developed portable acupoint stimulation device, and explore new technologies for efficient human-machine collaboration.

New challenges

The Shenzhou-17 crew has the youngest lineup since the construction of China’s Tiangong space station started.

Tang Hongbo, born in 1975, is the mission commander and a veteran astronaut once launched into orbit on the Shenzhou-12 mission in June 2021. Tang Shengjie, born in 1989, is a new face and also the youngest astronaut to enter China’s space station. Jiang Xinlin, born in 1988, is also a newcomer to space.

They will perform various in-orbit space science and application payload tests and experiments, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

They will carry out extravehicular activities, install extravehicular payloads and conduct space station maintenance and other tasks, Lin said.

The Shenzhou-17 astronauts will do extravehicular experimental maintenance for the first time, which is a very challenging task, Lin added.

With space debris increasing, their impact on long-term operating spacecraft is inevitable, Lin said. “Through preliminary inspections, we have found that the solar wings of the space station had been hit by tiny space particles several times, causing minor damages.”

“Of course, we already took this into consideration in the design stage. At present, all functionality and performance indicators of the space station meet requirements,” he added.

The astronauts will also continue to assess the functioning and performance of the space station and test the coordination and compatibility of ground support centers in performing space station operation and management tasks, to further enhance the operating efficiency and fault correction capability of the space station, he said.

The space station’s environmental control and life support system has been operating in orbit for approximately 900 consecutive days. The system’s regenerative technology has significantly reduced the need for ground supplies, and it is capable of saving up to six tonnes of expendable materials each year with three astronauts in orbit.

The Shenzhou-17 crew will rotate with the Shenzhou-16 crew, and the six astronauts across the two crews will work and live together in orbit for a period of time. The system’s processing capacity will be increased to meet the demands of six people. Its ability to support multiple modules and spacecraft will also be tested during the rotation.

The satellite, Yaogan-33 04, was launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket at 4:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), and has entered its planned orbit successfully.

It will be used for scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates, and disaster prevention and relief work.

The launch was the 489th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.