Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 30 Title: Space station building, Mars exploration and "50+" launches - 2021 China's space program is worth remembering
Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Zhe
"Tianwen" and "Zhurong" visited Mars, and Chang'e-5 lunar samples were unveiled. "Tianhe", "Shenzhou" and "Tianzhou" formed China's own space home, and "Xihe" took a new step in China's solar exploration... In 2021, China's annual space launches broke 50 times for the first time, reaching a new high and ranking first in the world.
Space station building, Mars exploration... 2021 China's aerospace is wonderful
In the past year, from the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station to the "Tianwen 1" and "Zhurong" spacecraft, Mars was successfully explored. From the successful completion of the Shenzhou 12 mission to the successful launch of the Shenzhou 13 mission, the mission has been flying to the sky again and again, turning dreams into reality and the impossible into possible.
On December 30, 2021, the top ten Chinese aerospace news and the top ten world aerospace news in 2021 selected by Zhang Ruqian, Yu Dengyun, Long Lehao, Yu Benshui, Zhu Kun, Yang Hong and other well-known academicians and experts in the aerospace field in conjunction with China Aerospace News, 706 Institute of the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry and other institutions were officially announced. Both China's first Mars exploration mission and China's space station were included in the two lists.
In 2021, Chinese astronauts will have a long-term home in orbit in space.
On April 29, the Tianhe Core Module of China's space station was launched into orbit, marking the full implementation of China's space station construction. On May 29, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spaceship was successfully launched, and the autonomous fast rendezvous and docking were conducted in the Tianhe Core Module. On June 17, the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft was launched. Astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo became the first "visitors" to the China Space Station and triumphed on September 17. On September 20, Tianzhou-3 cargo spaceship was launched and docked with Tianhe core module and Tianzhou-2 cargo spaceship assembly. On October 16, astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu took off in the Shenzhou XIII manned spacecraft, becoming the second batch of "visitors" to the Chinese space station.
Over the past year, China's manned space program has achieved amazing results. China's speed and miracle in space are impressive.
Academician Yang Hong, chief designer of the space station system of the China Manned Space Project, said that the construction of China's space station is still in the key technology verification stage, and there are still many problems to be solved in the future. We will always keep a clear head, do a good job in every step of work, and successfully complete the follow-up tasks of the space station construction.
In 2021, a thousand years of heaven will bring a dream to Mars.
On May 15, the Tianwen 1 probe successfully landed in the preselected landing area in the south of the Martian Utopia Plain, and China's first Mars exploration mission landed on Mars successfully.
More than 2000 years ago, the poet Qu Yuan looked up at the sky and said, "Heaven asks.". More than 2000 years later, the Tianwen 1 probe, named after Qu Yuan's long poem, left Chinese footprints on Mars for the first time in the preselected landing area in the southern part of the Martian Utopia Plain, marking an important step in China's interstellar exploration journey.
The successful landing of the Tianwen 1 probe on Mars is the first time that China has landed on an extraterrestrial planet, making China the second country to successfully land on Mars. It will contribute wisdom and strength to exploring the mysteries of the universe, improving the understanding of the evolution of Mars, and understanding the origin of life.
The number of "50+" launches reached a new high and ranked first in the world
On December 10, 2021, the number of launches of the Long March series carrier rocket officially refreshed to 400, becoming another milestone in China's space development. In 2021, China's space launches will reach 55 times a year, hitting a new high and ranking first in the world again.
"Through half a century of development, the success rate of Long March series launch vehicles has reached 96%, especially in recent years, the technology has advanced rapidly, reaching the world-class level in reliability, success rate, orbit entry accuracy, etc." said academician Long Lehao, senior consultant of Long March series launch vehicles.
The space stage of China is as big as the capability of launch vehicles. In 2021, not only the Long March series launch vehicles, but also the Kuanzhou 1A solid launch vehicle, which is mainly aimed at the commercial launch market, and the Ceres 1 launch vehicle, which is developed by private aerospace enterprises, will take turns to make China's space launch vehicle team even stronger and more substantial.
"Behind the high-density launch of China Aerospace, it is not only the improvement of launch frequency, but also the improvement of launch capability, and it is also the embodiment of space science and technology to climb the peak and become self reliant." Wu Yansheng, chairman of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, said that at present, the new generation of manned launch vehicles and heavy launch vehicles are being developed as planned, which will strongly promote the development of major aerospace projects.
In the future, with the continuous development of China's new generation of carrier rockets, the new and old rockets will achieve an all-round transition. Breakthroughs in rocket reuse, landing area control, unattended launch, multi satellite deployment and other technologies will enable China's carrier rocket technology to achieve a new leap forward again.
The space station continues to be built, and the lunar exploration project "goes new"... China's aerospace future is more exciting
Starry sea sails again. By the end of 2022, China will complete the construction of the three module space station assembly; Subsequently, the cargo supply of Tianzhou V and the manned flight mission of Shenzhou XV will be carried out. The crew of Shenzhou XV will rotate with the crew of Shenzhou XIV on orbit. After a comprehensive assessment of the status of the space station, it will move to the application and development stage of the space station. In the future, the space telescope will be launched at the right time to share orbit with the space station for long-term independent flight, carry out sky survey observation, and stop at the space station for short-term replenishment and maintenance upgrading.
In addition, China is starting a new journey of interstellar exploration step by step. Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the National Space Administration, said in an interview that the country has approved the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project. It is reported that the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration project includes the Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 missions, which will continue to be implemented in the inland in the next decade.
According to the plan, China will first launch the Chang'e-7 probe to the south pole of the moon, and then launch the backup Chang'e-6 of Chang'e-5 to sample and return to the south pole of the moon. After Chang'e 6, Chang'e 8 will be launched to establish the basic type of lunar research station.
What chemical reaction will occur when artificial intelligence is combined with space exploration? At the 2021 Baidu Artificial Intelligence Developers Conference, Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu, had an imaginative dialogue with academician Ouyang Ziyuan, the first chief scientist of China's lunar exploration project, "opening a big brain hole".
"Artificial intelligence technology can be used to make the scientific research station more intelligent." Li Yanhong believes that the core of the future lunar research station can be an artificial intelligence brain that integrates perception and control and has self-learning ability, which can help the construction of the lunar base, unattended scientific exploration and resource development and utilization.
"AI will inevitably be used more and more in aerospace technology in the future, making the perception and control ability of aerospace technology more accurate and simple, which is a future direction," Ouyang Ziyuan said.
Looking forward to the future, China's aerospace industry will surely move towards more distant stars and explore a more vast universe.
