At the Beijing China Takionaut/ Astronaut Center, China, People’s Republic of China 5th July 2024, Beijing time, the Shenzhou 17th the CNSA- China National Space AdministrationTiangong China space station Shenzhou Crew … We meet again! The longest space mission duration trip crew debuts On the afternoon of July 5, 2024, two months after returning from space, the Shenzhou 17 astronaut crew Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin officially met with the media and the public at the China Astronaut Center. At the meeting, the Shenzhou 17 crew shared their experiences and insights during their time in orbit.
After returning, the Shenzhou 17 crew has successively completed the isolation recovery and convalescence recovery stages, and has fully entered the recovery observation stage. At present, under the careful protection and care of the scientific research support team of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, the crew is in good physical and mental condition, their weight is stable at the pre-flight level, the results of various medical examinations are normal, and their muscle strength, endurance, and exercise cardiopulmonary function have basically recovered to the pre-flight level. After completing various tasks during the recovery period and conducting a summary of the recovery health assessment, the three astronauts will return to normal training.
[China’s first 10-kilometer-class vertical take-off and landing flight test of a reusable carrier rocket was a complete success]
On June 23rd 2024, China’s first 10-kilometer-class vertical take-off and landing flight test of a reusable carrier rocket was a complete success. The rocket was developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
At about 1300 hours Beijing Time, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia, China, People’s Republic of China , a 3.8-meter-diameter reusable carrier rocket new technology verification arrow was erected on the launch pad. Three variable thrust liquid oxygen-methane engines were ignited, spewing blue tail flames. The rocket body rose to an altitude of about 12 kilometers. The central engine adjusted the thrust, and the rocket descended in a controlled manner. At 50 meters from the ground, the four landing legs unfolded, and then the rocket slowly descended, approaching zero altitude, and landed steadily on the recovery field, achieving a fixed-point vertical soft landing.
This test is currently the largest-scale vertical take-off and landing flight test of a reusable carrier rocket in China, and it is also the first application of the domestically developed deep variable thrust liquid oxygen-methane engine in a 10-kilometer-class return flight. The entire test took about 6 minutes. The rocket went through five stages: accelerated ascent, decelerated ascent, accelerated descent, decelerated descent, and slow descent, achieving “take-off, accurate control, unfolding, and stable landing”.
[Take off, control accurately, deploy, and land steadily! China’s first 10-kilometer-level vertical take-off and landing flight test of a reusable carrier rocket was a complete success]
Three variable thrust liquid oxygen-methane engines were ignited, spewing blue tail flames. The rocket body rose to an altitude of about 12 kilometers. The central engine adjusted the thrust, and the rocket descended in a controlled manner. At 50 meters from the ground, the four landing legs unfolded, and then the rocket slowly descended, the altitude approached zero, and landed steadily on the recovery field, achieving a fixed-point vertical soft landing.
The entire test took about 6 minutes. The rocket went through five stages: accelerated ascent, decelerated ascent, accelerated descent, decelerated descent, and slow descent, achieving “take off, control accurately, deploy, and land steadily.”
The test fully verified the 3.8-meter diameter rocket body structure, large load landing cushioning technology, high-thrust strong variable thrust reusable engine technology, dual cryogenic pressurization delivery technology, high-precision navigation guidance control technology for return and landing, and health monitoring technology, laying a technical foundation for the first flight of a 4-meter-class reusable carrier rocket as scheduled in 2025. This test is currently the largest-scale vertical take-off and landing flight test of a reusable carrier rocket in China, and it is also the first application of the domestically developed deep variable thrust liquid oxygen-methane engine in a ten-Kilometer-class return..
The test fully verified the 3.8-meter-diameter rocket body structure, large-load landing buffer technology, large-thrust strong variable thrust reusable engine technology, dual low-temperature pressurization delivery technology, high-precision navigation guidance control technology for return and landing, and health monitoring technology, laying a technical foundation for the first flight of a 4-meter-class reusable carrier rocket as scheduled in 2025.
The apex of the flight profile of this test is the stratosphere at an altitude of about 12 kilometers. Subsequently, the research and development team will carry out a 70-kilometer-level vertical take-off and landing test of a reusable carrier rocket, which will basically cover the flight profile of the first stage of the rocket, and take another big step towards the goal of the first flight of a reusable carrier rocket.
Beijing Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. is the first domestic aerospace enterprise with mixed ownership, and it is also the target enterprise that Oriental Aerospace Port focuses on introducing. Relying on the scientific research strength and resource advantages of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Aerospace Flight Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology has been committed to the research and development and integration of space technology and aerospace vehicles as a platform for the transformation of major national scientific research projects, as well as the transformation and provision of technological achievements. Aerospace launch service. The Lijian-1 rocket project also adds a brand-new name card to the Oriental Space Port, which will surely promote the construction of the Oriental Space Port to take a solid step forward.
On the Week of 17th June 2024 China Aerospace Science and Technology has completed the joint test of the 85-ton kerosene engine in full flight conditions.
Recently, China Aerospace Science and Technology has completed the joint test of the 85-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine and servo matching in the first stage of the Lijian-2 liquid carrier rocket. The test engine is in a two-way swing state, which can meet the control requirements of a 6-degree swing circle. The swing test simulating the full-scale operation of the first stage during the test was successful, verifying the matching of the first-stage engine of the Lijian-2 and the servo system, and obtaining key data such as the dynamic swing characteristics of the engine. At the same time, this test tested the first flight state of the first-stage engine of the Lijian-2.
This test assessed the two-way swing performance of the first-stage engine of the Lijian-2 and verified the working coordination of the servo control system and the engine. In the future, the engine will continue to carry out life test on this basis. Lijian-2 adopts a CBC configuration, with a universal core stage diameter of 3.35 meters, a total length of 53 meters, a take-off weight of 625 tons, and a take-off thrust of 766 tons. The SSO carrying capacity is 8 tons, and the LEO carrying capacity is 12 tons. It is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2025…
[The joint test of the 85-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine YF-102 and servo matching flight conditions of the first stage of the Lijian-2 liquid carrier rocket of China Aerospace Science and Technology was successfully completed]
Recently, China Aerospace Science and Technology completed the joint test of the 85-ton liquid oxygen-kerosene engine and servo matching flight conditions of the first stage of the Lijian-2 liquid carrier rocket. The test engine is in a two-way swing state and can meet the 6-degree swing circle control requirements. The swing test simulating the full-scale operation of the first stage during the test process was successful, verifying the matching of the first stage engine of the Lijian-2 with the servo system, and obtaining key data such as the dynamic swing characteristics of the engine. At the same time, this test tested the first flight state of the first stage engine of the Lijian-2.
This test simulated the process of increasing the oxidizer and fuel inlet pressure caused by the flight overload of the first stage engine of the Lijian-2 by changing the engine inlet pressure. The engine thrust and specific impulse met the overall design requirements, the engine parameters were stable, and the performance indicators such as the oxygen self-pressurization met the design requirements.
During the test run, the engine extreme swing angle test, small swing angle joint training, load calibration, pressurized cold swing test, hot test combined swing test, etc. were carried out successively. During the ignition process, various waveform conditions such as square wave, triangle wave, and sine wave were tested. The maximum swing angle of the engine was 6°, and the servo feedback position and command tracking were good. The two-way swing performance of the first-stage engine of Lijian No. 2 was assessed, and the coordination between the servo control system and the engine was verified. Later, the engine will continue to carry out life survey tests on this basis.
Combined with this engine test run, liquid oxygen circuit immersion precooling, small flow precooling and large flow precooling tests were carried out simultaneously to obtain more accurate engine precooling characteristics and verify the correctness of the rocket body precooling scheme. In
addition, the low-order modal characteristics of the first-stage engine were obtained through structural modal tests of the installation process pull rod state and the installation servo mechanism state, providing important data support for the design of the attitude control system on the rocket. Environmental measurement points were added nearby to obtain environmental parameters such as noise.
On the 14th June 2024 CNSA _China National Space Administration -China – People’s Republic of China at a China Academy Of Launch Vehicle Technology Engine Testing complex.. On June 14, the Long March 10 series rockets used for manned lunar landing and other missions successfully completed the test of the first-stage rocket power system. During the test, the engine started normally, worked stably, shut down at a fixed time, and all parameters were tested normally. This test is the first system-level large-scale ground test of the Long March 10 series of launch vehicles. The matching of the first-stage booster delivery system and the engine, the propellant filling process, the multi-machine parallel power transmission and environmental characteristics and other technologies were fully verified.
The Long March 10 rocket is a three-and-a-half-stage rocket developed for the manned lunar exploration project. The total length of the rocket is 92.5 meters, the takeoff weight is about 2,189 tons, the takeoff thrust is about 2,678 tons, and the Earth-Moon transfer orbit carrying capacity is not less than 27 tons. In the future, it will be used to launch a new generation of manned spacecraft and lunar landers. In addition, the Long March 10 has also designed another booster-free configuration that can perform space station astronaut and cargo transportation tasks….
The engine is the power source of the rocket, and its development process is very complicated. Test run is an important link in the engine development process, and there are dozens of types. In layman’s terms, engine test run is the process of igniting the engine and verifying the rationality of its design scheme and process reliability. This is an indispensable and important part of the development and delivery of a type 1 engine. It will run through all stages before and after engine development. Each stage of test run has different meanings, and the ignition time varies from a few seconds to hundreds of seconds.
It is reported that the engine used in this test run uses advanced liquid oxygen kerosene as fuel, which is improved and iterated from the high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene engine used by the new generation of launch vehicles such as the Long March 5. The thrust reaches 130 tons. The R&D team of the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group adheres to the concept of digital design, and has successively overcome key technical problems such as engine start-up and shutdown sequence, engine wide-range continuously variable thrust, and engine long life and high reliability.
In addition, the continuous success of the test run has fully verified the reliability of a number of new carrying process technologies. The engine production of this test run adopts the concept of intelligent manufacturing, and actively applies new materials, new processes, and new technologies. The inner wall of the thrust chamber of the core component adopts a new protective coating, key assemblies adopt automatic welding technology, and a large number of components adopt 3D printing technology.
During the preparation of the engine test run, the participants in the research and test conducted tests and verifications on each subsystem of the test through comprehensive means such as digital modelling, simulation calculation, and system debugging. The successful test run shows that the test area has greatly improved the multi-station parallel test run capability and test efficiency by optimizing the workflow.
At 17:27 on May 3rd Friday 2024 Beijing time CNSA –China National Space Administration, the Chang’e-6 probe was successfully launched by the Long March 5 Yao-8 carrier rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan Province, China, People’s Republic of China., and accurately entered the Earth-moon transfer orbit. The launch mission was a complete success. The Chang’e-6 probe has embarked on the world’s first return journey for sampling from the far side of the moon. The pre-selected landing and sampling area is the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon.
[ Chang’e 6 completes sampling and ascender takes off from the far side of the moon and enters the scheduled lunar orbit]
According to the National Space Administration, at 4th June 2024 7:38 Beijing time today, the Chang’e 6 ascender carrying lunar samples took off from the far side of the moon. After the 3000N engine worked for about 6 minutes, it successfully sent the ascender into the scheduled lunar orbit. From
June 2 to 3, Chang’e 6 successfully completed intelligent and rapid sampling in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, and packaged the precious lunar far side samples in the storage device carried by the ascender in a predetermined form. During the sampling and packaging process, researchers simulated the geographical model of the sampling area and simulated sampling in the ground laboratory based on the probe data transmitted back by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, providing important support for sampling decisions and operations in various links.
The Chang’e-6 lunar flag display system was jointly developed by China Aerospace Sanjiang Group and Wuhan Textile University and other units. In response to the extreme environmental requirements of high and low temperature alternation, high vacuum and strong ultraviolet radiation in this mission, the lunar flag team of Academician Xu Weilin of the State Key Laboratory of New Textile Materials and Advanced Processing Technology of Wuhan Textile University..
selected basalt materials. Basalt fiber is a new type of inorganic environmentally friendly green high-performance fiber material. It is composed of oxides such as silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, iron oxide and titanium dioxide. China has listed basalt fiber as one of the four major fibers (carbon fiber, aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, basalt fiber) for key development, and has achieved industrial production. Using natural basalt formed by volcanic eruptions as raw materials, it is crushed and put into a melting furnace, heated to a molten state of 1450~1500℃, and quickly drawn through a platinum-rhodium alloy drawing plate. This is how basalt fiber is made. When basalt fiber is manufactured, it has excellent high temperature resistance and thermal shock stability, and can remain unchanged at a temperature of 650°C. It also has durability, weather resistance, UV resistance, water resistance, and oxidation resistance comparable to natural basalt stone. 嫦娥六号…..
