Chinese Space Program

FighterJock said:
Flyaway said:
Inside China’s new crewed spacecraft:

Click to expand...

One question though, how does this capsule compare with SpaceX's Crew Dragon in terms of size and inside space for the crew?
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It has an internal volume of 13mc, compared to Crew Dragon’s 9.3mc. It can supposedly carry a maximum of 7 astronauts, whilst CD is limited to 4.
 

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E-V Bomber said:
FighterJock said:
Flyaway said:
Inside China’s new crewed spacecraft:

Click to expand...

One question though, how does this capsule compare with SpaceX's Crew Dragon in terms of size and inside space for the crew?
Click to expand...

It has an internal volume of 13mc, compared to Crew Dragon’s 9.3mc. It can supposedly carry a maximum of 7 astronauts, whilst CD is limited to 4.
Click to expand...

Dragon 2 (the formal name for Crew Dragon) can carry 7 pax; 4 is just the limit as NASA is configuring it, with significant pressurized cargo as well. The Chinese capsule's pax capacity drops to 3 with 500kg of cargo.

It would also be illuminating to compare the unpressurized cargo space, if the Chinese are even doing that. D2 has an additional 12.1m3 of cargo in the trunk.
 
TomS said:
E-V Bomber said:
FighterJock said:
Flyaway said:
Inside China’s new crewed spacecraft:

Click to expand...

One question though, how does this capsule compare with SpaceX's Crew Dragon in terms of size and inside space for the crew?
Click to expand...

It has an internal volume of 13mc, compared to Crew Dragon’s 9.3mc. It can supposedly carry a maximum of 7 astronauts, whilst CD is limited to 4.
Click to expand...

Dragon 2 (the formal name for Crew Dragon) can carry 7 pax; 4 is just the limit as NASA is configuring it, with significant pressurized cargo as well. The Chinese capsule's pax capacity drops to 3 with 500kg of cargo.

It would also be illuminating to compare the unpressurized cargo space, if the Chinese are even doing that. D2 has an additional 12.1m3 of cargo in the trunk.
Click to expand...

I believe the 7 seat configuration was actually ditched because it wasn’t safe for the passengers to splashdown whilst lying down on their backs. NASA are fine with Boeing’s Starliner using 5 seats. We don’t know if the Chinese capsule has a cargo trunk because the prototype was tested in a BEO configuration, meaning it used a large service module in the place of a possible trunk.
 
Flyaway said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1275312444429209602

Oof. Yet again. Apparent debris from the Long March 3B rocket which launched the Beidou-3 satellite launch today, landing close to a reservoir in Yuqing county, Guizhou. Source: https://www.weibo.com/6589325642/J7XqRtC2U
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1275315481759621121

And here's more debris from the launch: weibo.com/3279752321/J7W…
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Not good that is has happened again, the second time that debris from the Long March 3B rockets have landed in public area’s.
 
news.yahoo.com

China launches final satellite to complete rival to GPS

China on Tuesday launched the final satellite in its homegrown geolocation system designed to rival the US GPS network, marking a major step in its race for market share in the lucrative sector. The launch of the Beidou-3GEO3 satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center was originally...
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com
 
www.apstar.com

Successful Launch of APSTAR-6D Satellite - APSTAR

At 20:11 on the evening of July 9, APSTAR-6D satellite took off on the CZ-3B/E rocket at Xichang Satellite Launch Center. After half hour flight, APSTAR-6D separated from the rocket’s 3rd stage, completed the first deployment of the solar array, and entered into transfer orbit. In the following...
www.apstar.com www.apstar.com
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1283801101439873024
View: https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1283801101439873024


It seems that there hasn’t been any detailed specifications of the scientific instruments of the now-about-to-be-rolled-to-launch-pad of the Chinese Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter and PRCMarsRover missions in English from anywhere I have seen - at least till now!
Thanks to cathirame I finally get a detailed specifications list that I have crudely translated into English! Bear in mind that my UG physics were bad and the Chinese scientific terms used are a little bit different from my familar translations so the translation is crude.
Source: LI Chunlai, LIU Jianjun, GENG Yan, CAO Jinbin, ZHANG Tielong, FANG Guangyou, YANG Jianfeng, SHU Rong, ZOU Yongliao, LIN Yangting, OUYANG Ziyuan. Scientific Objectives and Payload Configuration of China's First Mars Exploration Mission[J].
Journal of Deep Space Exploration, 2018, 5(5): 406-413. doi: 10.15982/j.issn.2095-7777.2018.05.002

Firstly, here are the specifications of the 7 instruments of the TW-1 Mars Orbiter:
1. Medium Resolution Camera
Imaging wavelength: Visible Light
Color: Standard RGB
Image Resolution: < 100 m at 400 km altitude
Image swath: >= 400 km at 400 km altitude
Pixel Resolution: >= 4096 x 3072

2. High Resolution Camera
Image resolution: < 2.5 m (< 0.5 m in certain regions) multi-color; < 10 m (< 2.0 m in certain regions) panchromatic
Image swath: >= 9 km at 265 km altitude

3. Mars orbiter sub-surface radar
Radar frequency: 10-20 & 30-50 MHz
Transmitter power: >= 100 W
Receiver power: <= -87 dBm
Maximum detection depth: ~100 m for Martian sub-surface soil (εr = 3.0~4.0); ~1000 m for Martian polar ice layers (εr = 3.0)
Depth resolution: ~ 1 m

4. Mars mineralogy spectrometer
Wavelength bands: Visible Light - NIR band 0.45~1.05 μm; NIR-MIR band 1.00~3.40 μm
Spectral resolution: < 10 nm for Visible Light - NIR band; < 12 nm for 1.0~2.0 μm; < 25 nm for 2.0~3.4 μm

5. Mars magnetometer
Measurement range: +- 2000 nT
Noise level <= 0.01 nT/√Hz
Resolution: <= 0.01 nT
Precision: 0.1 nT

6. Mars ions and neutral particles analyser
Limit of Detection of low energy ions:
Energy range: 5 eV ~ 25 keV
delta-E/E: 15%
Mass: 1~ 70 amu
delta-m/m: 25%
POV: 90° x 360°
Angular resolution: 11.2° x 22.5°
Time resolution: 8s
Limit of Detection of low energy neutral particles:
Energy range: 50 eV ~ 3 keV
delta-E/E: 100%
Mass: 1 ~ 32 amu
POV: 15° x 160°
Angular resolution: 10° x 25°
Time resolution: 4s

7. Mars energetic particles analyser
Limit of Detection:
Energy range: 0.1 ~ 12 MeV (Electrons) / 2 ~100 MeV (Protons) / 25 ~ 300 MeV (Alpha Particles/Heavy Ions)
delta-E/E: 15%
Flux: 0 ~ 10^5 cm^-2 s^-1
Atomic Number: 1 <= Z <= 26 (H - Fe)
delta-m/m: <=25% (Z <= 9, 25 ~ 300 MeV & 10 <= Z <= 26, 100 ~ 300 MeV); <=60% (10 <= Z <= 26, 25 ~ 100 MeV)
POV: 60°
Time resolution: 4s (Electrons, Protons, Alpha Particles); 60s (Heavy Ions)

And here comes the 6 instruments on the yet-to-be-named @PRCMarsRover which will get a name via a planned public naming contest:
A. Terrain Camera
Imaging wavelength: Visible Light
Color: Standard RGB
Nominal imaging distance: 0.5 m ~ ∞
Pixel Resolution: 2048 x 2048

B. Multi-spectral camera
Imaging bands (/nm, Full Width At Half Maximum in brackets): 480 (20), 525 (20), 650 (12), 700 (15), 800 (25), 900 (30), 950 (50), 1000 (50)
Color: Multi-spectral
Nominal imaging distance: 1.5 m ~ ∞
Pixel Resolution: 2048 x 2048

C. Rover sub-surface radar
Channel 1:
Median frequency: 55 MHz
Working bandwidth: 40 MHz
Penetrating depth of Martian ice layers: ~1 m
Maximum detection depth: >=10 m for Martian sub-surface soil (εr = 3.0~4.0); >=100 m for Martian polar ice layers (εr = 3.0)
Channel 2:
Median frequency: 1300 MHz
Working bandwidth: 1000 MHz
Precision of layer thickness detection: ~cm
Maximum detection depth: >=3 m for Martian sub-surface soil (εr = 3.0~4.0); >=10 m for Martian polar ice layers (εr = 3.0)

D. Mars surface composition analyser
LIBS measurements: Detects 10+ elements; optimal working distance from sample 2~5 m (max. 10 m); imaging resolution <= 100 μrad (0.2 mm @ 2 m; 0.5 mm @ 5 m)
NIR measurments (850~2400 nm): spectral resolution <=12 nm; 130+ bands; POV >=1 mrad

E. Mars surface magnetometer
Measurement range: +- 2000 nT
Noise level <= 0.01 nT/√Hz
Resolution: <= 0.01 nT
Stability: <= 0.01 nT/°C
Sampling rate: 1/16/32/128 Hz
Range: +- 65000 nT

F. Mars meteorology instrument
Temperature -120~50 °C (precision 0.1 °C); Pressure 1~1500 Pa (precision 0.1 Pa); Windspeed 0~70 m/s (precision 0.1 m/s); Wind Direction 0°~360° (precision 5°); Sound detection 20 Hz~2.5 kHz/2.5~20 kHz (Sensibility >50 mV/Pa; Dynamic Range >=90 dB)
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www.space.com

China's first Mars rover Tianwen-1 launches this week. Here's what it will do.

A new paper lays out key details about the historic mission.
www.space.com www.space.com

One of the paper's authors was Wan Weixing, the chief scientist for Tianwen-1. Wan died in May, just a couple of months before the coming launch. He is described as a world-leading space scientist and a pioneer in China's planetary science program in an obituary published last month, also by Nature Astronomy. His given name, Weixing, literally means "satellite."

As well as detailing his career in space, science and academia, the obituary gives insight into Wan's other interests. He often stayed up late to watch English Premier League or Italian Serie A soccer matches, sometimes causing him trouble in getting to academic meetings the next morning, obituary author Yong Wei recalls.
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After the Tianwen-1 TW-1 Mars mission, the one to watch next is Ziyuan-3-03 (ZY-3) to be launched on Saturday, follwing a long gap from 2016.
 
China's Mars probe completes first orbital correction


BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 successfully carried out its first orbital correction Sunday morning, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The probe conducted the orbital correction at 7 a.m. (Beijing Time) after its 3000N engine worked for 20 seconds, and continued to head for Mars. All the systems of the probe were in good condition.

Before the orbital correction, the Mars probe had traveled more than 230 hours in space, and was about 3 million km away from the Earth.

The operation also tested the performance of the 3000N engine. The probe will undergo several orbital corrections in a more than six-month journey to Mars, said the CNSA source.

China launched the Mars probe on July 23, designed to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission, taking the first step in its planetary exploration of the solar system.

The Mars probe is expected to reach the red planet around February 2021. After entering the orbit, it will spend another two to three months surveying the candidate landing sites before landing.
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The 50th launch of the Long March 2D carrier rocket, the 3rd Gaofen 9 into orbit this year
 

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