Text/Hang Xiao Zhi
If 2020 is the chinese aerospace year, then we can proudly say that 2021 will continue this name.
With the successful launch of the communication technology test satellite No. 9 at 00:43 yesterday (December 30) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center with the Long March 3B rocket, the final battle of China Aerospace in 2021 was declared to be won. If you use data to summarize this year's Chinese spaceflight, it is that In 2021, China has carried out a total of 55 space launches, ranking first in the world. The Long March series rockets were launched 48 times, with a success rate of 100%.
Such impressive achievements are inseparable from the efforts of every astronaut. On the last day of 2021, Hangzhi also took aerospace as the last closing push, let us review the top ten aerospace news at home and abroad in 2021.
10
China has successfully developed the world's largest thrust solid rocket engine
On October 19, 2021, the integrated solid rocket engine with the largest thrust and engineering application in the world independently developed by China was successfully commissioned in the fourth hospital of aerospace science and technology group.
The engine has a diameter of 3.5 meters and a thrust of 500 tons, and adopts a number of advanced technologies such as high-performance fiber composite housing, high-filling integral pouring molding combustion chamber, and oversized nozzle, and the comprehensive performance of the engine has reached the world's leading level. The success of the test marks the substantial improvement of China's solid carrying capacity, provides more power options for the development of China's carrier rocket spectrum, and is of great significance for promoting the development of large and heavy launch vehicle technology in the future.
09
For the first time in the world! Helicopters make their first flight on Mars
On February 19, 2021, Beijing time, the US Mars rover "Perseverance" successfully landed on Mars, which is also the first probe to reach Mars in the 2020 window period - China's "Tianwen" No. 1, the Uae's "Hope" and the United States's "Perseverance" three countries concentrated fire exploration operation. In addition to its own mission to Mars, Perseverance also made a global first: it carried mankind's first Martian unmanned helicopter, the Witty.
On April 19, Beijing time, the "Witty" climbed to an altitude of 3 meters within 6 seconds of the Yezero impact crater on Mars, and circled in the air for 30 seconds, and then slowly descended until the four brackets of the lower part of the drone touched the ground. Wit became the first controllable vehicle for humanity to fly on other planets! Another breakthrough in human spaceflight has been achieved!
08
Commercial space travel ushers in a new era
On July 11, 2021, Richard Branson, the founder of the British Virgin Group, successfully returned after reaching an 86-kilometer high orbit in his spacecraft, completing a suborbital flight, becoming the first founder of a commercial space enterprise to land in space.
Nine days later, on July 20, Beijing time, jeff Bezos, the world's richest man in the world, flew aboard the "New Shepard" rocket developed by its space flight company Blue Origin to the edge of space 100 kilometers (Carmen Line = the dividing line between outer space and the Earth's atmosphere), with a total flight time of 10 minutes and 18 seconds. Along with Bezos, there was his younger brother Mark Bezos, the 82-year-old legendary female pilot Wally Fink, and the youngest 18-year-old Dutch youth Oliver Dyer, who was also the first paying passenger, while the mysterious man who won the first ticket for $28 million could not participate in the trip due to scheduling conflicts.
As we all know, most of the people who were able to go to space before were professional astronauts, and Bezos went to space as an ordinary person, which was a positive attempt. After the spacecraft returned to Earth, Bezos called "the best day ever." Bezos will be priced at more than $1 million for the same space tour. Branson's "space travel" ticket pre-sale of $250,000, so far more than 600 people have booked, and more ordinary people have the opportunity to go to space, and space travel may also become a popular project. Does this mean that the era of commercial space travel is really coming?
07
After four consecutive explosions, the SN15 landed successfully
On May 5, 2021, local time, SpaceX's starship prototype SN15 successfully completed a high-altitude flight test in Boca Chica, Texas, which is the fifth challenge of the SpaceX starship prototype and the first time that there has been no explosion accident.
SN15 successfully brought Musk an important ladder, this ladder is the last threshold before the combination of the starship and the heavy rocket, the starship itself can fall back to the ground at an altitude of ten thousand meters, meaning that the next step, the starship can try a combination of heavy rockets - 29 Raptor engines, a minimum of 7500 tons of thrust, multi-stage rockets designed to send the same huge starship into orbit, one of the largest rocket boosters in history has been assembled. Xiaobian looks forward to the moment when the rocket takes off with you.
06
Long March rocket, 400 rounds!
From 0 to 50 launches, we took 5 times as long as the Americans. 0 to 100 times and we used it for 37 years, 100 to 200, we used it for 7 years! 200 to 300 times, we used it for 4 and a half years. 300 to 400 times, we only used 33 months!
On December 10, China used the "Long March" No. 4B carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to successfully send the "Shijian" No. 6 05 group satellite into the predetermined orbit, and the launch mission was a complete success, and the launch mission was also the 400th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets. Looking back at these 400 launches, the "Long March" rocket launches are developing in the direction of becoming more and more intensive and reliable. The "Long March" not only plays a major role in China's space launches, but also plays an increasingly important role in the field of world space launches.
05
China's first female astronaut came out of the cabin, and the space lecture 2.0
On October 16, the Long March 2F Yao-13 carrier rocket ignited and took off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft carrying Three astronauts, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, was lifted into space.
At 1:16 a.m. on November 8, after about 6.5 hours of outgoing activities, the Shenzhou 13 crew successfully completed all the scheduled tasks of the outgoing activities, and astronaut Zhai Zhigang and astronaut Wang Yaping returned safely to the core cabin, and the outgoing activities were a complete success. At this point, Wang Yaping has also become the first female astronaut in the history of China's aerospace industry.
On December 9, 2021, space teaching version 2.0 was officially launched. Astronaut Wang Yaping, assisted by Shenzhou 13 commander Zhai Zhigang and astronaut Ye Guangfu, demonstrated 8 space teaching projects such as cytology experiments, object motion, liquid surface tension and other phenomena in weightless environments for the global audience. This is also the second space cloud class after eight years after the Space Class of Shenzhou 9 in 2013.
04
Cost tens of billions! The strongest Weber telescope in history was launched
Known as the "successor" of the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the Kuru Space Center in French Guiana on December 25 local time, shouldering the responsibility of observing the first galaxies after the formation of the universe and searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. Developed over a period of 25 years by thousands of scientists and engineers, the telescope is the most powerful and expensive space telescope ever built. It cost about $10 billion, weighs 6.2 tons, has a main mirror diameter of 6.5 meters, and is made up of 18 giant hexagonal daughter mirrors; when the visor is unfolded, it is the size of a tennis court.
Weber Space Telescope launch site
The Weber telescope is about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, about 4 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, and it takes a month to get there. It will orbit the Sun in sync with the Earth, always staying on earth's night surface. After reaching the observation position, the researchers need to spend another 5 months to carry out various inspections of it, and it is expected that the telescope will be officially "on duty" by the end of June 2022.
Schematic of the Webb telescope
03
The Chinese space station was launched for the first time
At 9:22 on June 17, 2021, the Long March 2F Yao 12 carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft was launched, successfully sending Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo into space, and the Chinese space station welcomed the first batch of visitors.
On the morning of July 4, 2021, the three astronauts of Shenzhou XII coordinated and cooperated to carry out the first outgoing activity of the Chinese space station. At 14:57, after about 7 hours of outgoing activities, all the tasks set during the outgoing activities were successfully completed, and astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo returned safely to the core module, marking the first outgoing activity of the Chinese space station. This is also the second time that Chinese astronauts have performed the mission after 13 years after the successful departure mission of the Shenzhou 7 flight crew.
▲ On July 4, the astronauts of the Chinese space station in the large screen of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center were released for the first time. Photo by Wang Sijiang
02
"Tianwen" with "Zhu Rong" fell into flames
At 12:41 on July 23, 2020, the "Long March" 5 carrier rocket carried the Mars probe "Tianwen" No. 1 was launched, which was the first time that China had independently implemented a Mars exploration mission.
On February 10, 2021, "Tianwen" No. 1 successfully implemented the close fire capture brake and entered the orbit of Mars, becoming China's first artificial Mars satellite.
On May 15, 2021, "Tianwen" No. 1 confirmed the successful landing on the utopian plains of the northern hemisphere of Mars, officially leading the "Zhurong" rover to launch a Mars exploration journey! China has thus become the second country where the probe successfully landed on Mars, and our exploration has to complete the 3 missions of "orbiting the fall", and no country has ever completed these 3 tasks at the same time with the first Mars exploration.
We can finally proudly say: Mars, China has arrived!
01
China has officially entered the era of the space station
At 11:23 on April 29, 2021, China's "Long March" 5B carrier rocket carried China's first space station core module "Tianhe" successfully launched at Wenchang Cosmodrome! This is an important starting point for the construction of the Chinese space station, starting from the manned space project in 1991, 30 years, in order to this day, China's own space station is coming! China has officially entered the era of the space station!
The orbital height of the "Tiangong" space station is about 370-450 kilometers, the orbital inclination is about 42 degrees, and it is expected to have an orbital life of more than 10 years, with the ability to expand, and can guarantee the permanent residence of up to 6 astronauts. After that, the "Qingtian" experimental module and the "Dream Sky" experimental module will be launched on the right time. It is expected that the construction of the Chinese space station on orbit will be completed around 2022, and the National Space Laboratory will be built for stable operation in orbit. Follow-up will be carried out in succession to carry out freight replenishment, manned flights and other tasks. The International Space Station may be decommissioned in 2024, when the Chinese space station is expected to become the only space station in orbit in the world.
China Space Station Concept Map. Alpine/Painted
In 2022, what surprises will China's aerospace bring us?