08 November 2021
Tianwen 1, successfully completed its 5th braking manoeuvre on 8 November. The orbiter has been working around Mars for 473 days and is working as intended. But the engineers have calculated a new orbit for better remote sensing of the Red Planet and improved data relay between the rover and Earth. The orbiter uses seven scientific payloads to scan Mars and analyse its composition. TW-1 will remain in the new polar orbit for the next year to conduct global scientific exploration of Mars. The overall designed lifetime of the orbiter is 2 years. TW-1 is in Mars orbit since February this year.
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09 November 2021
The 1st China-Africa Beidou System Cooperation Forum took recently place in Beijing. Officials, industry leaders and researchers from China, several African nations and the African Union shared their thoughts on how to strengthen their communication and cooperation in promoting and using the Beidou Navigation Satellite System. China will join hands with Africa to promote Beidou-based services and applications on the continent to foster local industries and businesses and help to create more jobs and reduce poverty.
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29 October 2021
After multi-party consultation and careful consideration, the organising committee of the 7th China (International) Commercial Space Forum decided to postpone the forum by 2 weeks. The 7th CCAF was originally scheduled to be held from 9-11 November 2021 but will now take place from 24-26 November 2021. The venue remains unchanged and will still be the Eurasia International Hotel in Wuhan, Hubei Province. International guests will participate online.
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07 November 2021
The Shenzhou 13 crew has recently carried out an emergency evacuation exercise CCTV reported on 07 November. The 3-member crew - Major General Zhai Zhigang, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu - practiced evacuating the Tiangong space station and returning to their Shenzhou 13 spacecraft in a scenario simulating the station losing its inner pressure after being hit by space debris.
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07 November 2021
On 7 November, Wang Yaping becomes the 1st female taikonaut conducting an EVA. She is joined by Zhai Zhigang, who completed China's and his 1st spacewalk 13 years ago during the Shenzhou 7 mission. Today, both conducted the 1st EVA of the Shenzhou 13 mission. They have been out of the Tianhe space station core module by 20:28 BJT on 7 November. Zhai opened the hatch of Tianhe's node airlock at 18:51 BJT. Donning China-developed new-generation Feitian spacesuits, the pair will conduct a series of extravehicular tasks with the aid of the mechanical arm. Ye Guangfu stayed inside to support his crewmates in completing the operations.
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06 November 2021
Taikonauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo, completed their initial recovery and quarantine which started straight after their landing on 17 September. At the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre the crew underwent comprehensive medical examination and health assessment. The Centre introduced tailor-made recovery plans for each taikonaut. During the last weeks, the 3 taikonauts have re-adapted to terrestrial gravity, restored their body functions as expected, and participated in a series of evaluation tests and experiments.
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