09 February 2022
Tianwen 1 has sent a selfie video from 325 million km away to celebrate the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The video, showing the Olympic emblem, was taken by a camera mounted on a selfie stick attached to the orbiter. The selfie stick is made of shape memory composite and weighs only 800 grams. Its arm is 1.6 m long when unfolded at a certain temperature.
MORE...
07 February 2022
The Olympic opening ceremony was not only a visually overwhelming show, it also borrowed some space themes like the display of the Moon and views of a sunrise and auroras from space. But also technically, the show relied on space expertise. CASC's engineers were tasked with 11 major components of the 140-minute ceremony giving an impressive insight into China's high-tech capabilities.
MORE...
07 February 2022
This week, Jean Deville and Blaine Curcio introduce us to SpaceTai, a recently founded company developing 3D printed rockets with the aim to lower the launch costs significantly. Another topic of this week's broadcast is China's Space White Paper and another one Lunar New Year greetings from the CSS. More news can be found in their weekly newsletter. And if you like to support Jean and Blaine, maybe you would like to buy them a coffee?
MORE...
31 January 2022
Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu extended their Spring Festival greetings in a video released by CMSA on Chinese Lunar New Year's eve. It was also shown in the Spring Festival Gala on TV. The Shenzhou 13 crew is the first Chinese space mission to celebrate the Spring Festival in space. The taikonauts have decorated the orbiting core module with red lanterns, Chinese knots and paper-cut craft. The three will also enjoy the traditions they usually share with their families on Earth - eating dumplings, wearing new clothes and pasting spring couplets on walls.
MORE...
31 January 2022
This week, Jean Deville and Blaine Curcio are reflecting on the unprecedented amount of funding from Chinese launch start-ups in 2022 and the developments and trends in sub-orbital launch. More news can be found in their weekly newsletter.
And if you like to support Jean and Blaine, maybe you would like to buy them a coffee?
MORE...
31 January 2022
As of 31 January, the Tianwen-1 orbiter has been working in orbit for 557 days at a distance of around 325 million km from Earth. Zhurong has been operating for 255 Martian days and has driven a total of 1,524 m on the surface of Mars. Since its launch on 23 July 2020, the Mars mission has sent back 600 GB of raw scientific data, according to CNSA. Tianwen-1 will soon have its first anniversary in orbit, as it reached Mars on 10 February 2021.
MORE...