News on China's scientific and technological development.
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Martian
Senior Member
Cornerstone of Chinese space station approaches liftoff
Cornerstone of Chinese space station approaches liftoff
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 4, 2011
China plans to launch the first module of an envisioned space laboratory by the end of September, and the rising space power will attempt its first in-orbit docking weeks later, according to space program officials and state-run media reports.
Photo of the Tiangong 1 module undergoing testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
The Tiangong 1 space module was shipped to the Jiuquan launching base June 29 to begin the last steps in preparing the craft for launch sometime before the end of September, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, an organization supporting planning and development of the country's human space efforts.
The spacecraft will be given a "final check" before blasting off on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan, a space center in the Gobi desert in northwestern China. The launch site is near the border between China's Gansu and Inner Mongolia provinces.
"After two years of strenuous efforts by the scientists, [the] Tiangong 1 target spacecraft has been successfully assembled and passed through failure detection," the state-run People's Daily newspaper reported in its English edition.
Xinhua, another state-run news agency, also reported last week the Tiangong 1 spacecraft was transported to the launch site.
The 19,000-pound vehicle is designed to function as a testbed for Chinese rendezvous and docking techniques a few hundred miles above Earth. China says it will operate for at least two years.
Tiangong, which means "heavenly palace" in Chinese, features a forward docking port, navigation and communications equipment, and a pressurized cabin for human visitors.
An automated Chinese capsule named Shenzhou 8 will launch as soon as October to approach and dock with the Tiangong module. If the rendezvous attempt is successful, it will pave the way for up to two manned Shenzhou flights to the mini-space station in 2012.
Photo of the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft undergoing [vacuum thermal] testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
The piloted missions could stay at the complex for days or weeks working on scientific experiments, military missions and other research for China's military-run space program.
China's next five-year strategic plan includes manned space missions spanning at least 20 days and the design and construction of an automated cargo craft to resupply outposts in orbit, state-owned media reported this spring.
The advances come as the United States retires the space shuttle and struggles to formulate a consistent policy regarding cooperation with the Chinese space program. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited China in October 2010, but a clause inserted into the agency's budget this year sought to limit NASA's ability to collaborate with the Chinese government or companies.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is a staunch critic of China's human rights record. Wolf was instrumental in ensuring the China restrictions made it into the budget.
Although many lawmakers support Wolf's provision, some members of Congress show guarded support for modest cooperation between NASA and China, including the development of a joint docking system to facilitate rescues of international space crews.
An Obama administration official told Congress in May the White House's view of the issue was that the legislation should not interfere with the president's constitutional ability to conduct international negotations.
The Tiangong docking test this fall is a key milestone for China's objective of building a space station the size of NASA's 1970s-era Skylab outpost by 2020.
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[video=youtube;37JOQn7B-wA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=37JOQn7B-wA[/video]
[video=youtube;3BxMrhdz8YM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=3BxMrhdz8YM[/video]
[video=youtube;K6npFC6dugg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=K6npFC6dugg[/video]
[Note: Thank you to PakChina for the article link and HouShanghai for the video links.]
Cornerstone of Chinese space station approaches liftoff
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 4, 2011
China plans to launch the first module of an envisioned space laboratory by the end of September, and the rising space power will attempt its first in-orbit docking weeks later, according to space program officials and state-run media reports.
Photo of the Tiangong 1 module undergoing testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
The Tiangong 1 space module was shipped to the Jiuquan launching base June 29 to begin the last steps in preparing the craft for launch sometime before the end of September, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, an organization supporting planning and development of the country's human space efforts.
The spacecraft will be given a "final check" before blasting off on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan, a space center in the Gobi desert in northwestern China. The launch site is near the border between China's Gansu and Inner Mongolia provinces.
"After two years of strenuous efforts by the scientists, [the] Tiangong 1 target spacecraft has been successfully assembled and passed through failure detection," the state-run People's Daily newspaper reported in its English edition.
Xinhua, another state-run news agency, also reported last week the Tiangong 1 spacecraft was transported to the launch site.
The 19,000-pound vehicle is designed to function as a testbed for Chinese rendezvous and docking techniques a few hundred miles above Earth. China says it will operate for at least two years.
Tiangong, which means "heavenly palace" in Chinese, features a forward docking port, navigation and communications equipment, and a pressurized cabin for human visitors.
An automated Chinese capsule named Shenzhou 8 will launch as soon as October to approach and dock with the Tiangong module. If the rendezvous attempt is successful, it will pave the way for up to two manned Shenzhou flights to the mini-space station in 2012.
Photo of the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft undergoing [vacuum thermal] testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
The piloted missions could stay at the complex for days or weeks working on scientific experiments, military missions and other research for China's military-run space program.
China's next five-year strategic plan includes manned space missions spanning at least 20 days and the design and construction of an automated cargo craft to resupply outposts in orbit, state-owned media reported this spring.
The advances come as the United States retires the space shuttle and struggles to formulate a consistent policy regarding cooperation with the Chinese space program. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited China in October 2010, but a clause inserted into the agency's budget this year sought to limit NASA's ability to collaborate with the Chinese government or companies.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is a staunch critic of China's human rights record. Wolf was instrumental in ensuring the China restrictions made it into the budget.
Although many lawmakers support Wolf's provision, some members of Congress show guarded support for modest cooperation between NASA and China, including the development of a joint docking system to facilitate rescues of international space crews.
An Obama administration official told Congress in May the White House's view of the issue was that the legislation should not interfere with the president's constitutional ability to conduct international negotations.
The Tiangong docking test this fall is a key milestone for China's objective of building a space station the size of NASA's 1970s-era Skylab outpost by 2020.
----------
[video=youtube;37JOQn7B-wA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=37JOQn7B-wA[/video]
[video=youtube;3BxMrhdz8YM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=3BxMrhdz8YM[/video]
[video=youtube;K6npFC6dugg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=K6npFC6dugg[/video]
[Note: Thank you to PakChina for the article link and HouShanghai for the video links.]
Re: Cornerstone of Chinese space station approaches liftoff
Calling Tiangong 1 a "cornerstone" is inaccurate. Tiangong 1 is a test vehicle for docking and a temporary space laboratory. It will not be part of a larger station, after all, it only has a single docking port.
That said, the Tiangong vehicles will be used in the future to ferry supplies to the future stations, unmanned. Similar (but more capable than) Russia's Progress ferrys.
Cornerstone of Chinese space station approaches liftoff
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 4, 2011
China plans to launch the first module of an envisioned space laboratory by the end of September, and the rising space power will attempt its first in-orbit docking weeks later, according to space program officials and state-run media reports.
Photo of the Tiangong 1 module undergoing testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
The Tiangong 1 space module was shipped to the Jiuquan launching base June 29 to begin the last steps in preparing the craft for launch sometime before the end of September, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, an organization supporting planning and development of the country's human space efforts.
The spacecraft will be given a "final check" before blasting off on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan, a space center in the Gobi desert in northwestern China. The launch site is near the border between China's Gansu and Inner Mongolia provinces.
"After two years of strenuous efforts by the scientists, [the] Tiangong 1 target spacecraft has been successfully assembled and passed through failure detection," the state-run People's Daily newspaper reported in its English edition.
Xinhua, another state-run news agency, also reported last week the Tiangong 1 spacecraft was transported to the launch site.
The 19,000-pound vehicle is designed to function as a testbed for Chinese rendezvous and docking techniques a few hundred miles above Earth. China says it will operate for at least two years.
Tiangong, which means "heavenly palace" in Chinese, features a forward docking port, navigation and communications equipment, and a pressurized cabin for human visitors.
An automated Chinese capsule named Shenzhou 8 will launch as soon as October to approach and dock with the Tiangong module. If the rendezvous attempt is successful, it will pave the way for up to two manned Shenzhou flights to the mini-space station in 2012.
Photo of the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft undergoing [vacuum thermal] testing earlier in 2011. Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
The piloted missions could stay at the complex for days or weeks working on scientific experiments, military missions and other research for China's military-run space program.
China's next five-year strategic plan includes manned space missions spanning at least 20 days and the design and construction of an automated cargo craft to resupply outposts in orbit, state-owned media reported this spring.
The advances come as the United States retires the space shuttle and struggles to formulate a consistent policy regarding cooperation with the Chinese space program. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited China in October 2010, but a clause inserted into the agency's budget this year sought to limit NASA's ability to collaborate with the Chinese government or companies.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is a staunch critic of China's human rights record. Wolf was instrumental in ensuring the China restrictions made it into the budget.
Although many lawmakers support Wolf's provision, some members of Congress show guarded support for modest cooperation between NASA and China, including the development of a joint docking system to facilitate rescues of international space crews.
An Obama administration official told Congress in May the White House's view of the issue was that the legislation should not interfere with the president's constitutional ability to conduct international negotations.
The Tiangong docking test this fall is a key milestone for China's objective of building a space station the size of NASA's 1970s-era Skylab outpost by 2020.
----------
[video=youtube;37JOQn7B-wA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=37JOQn7B-wA[/video]
[video=youtube;3BxMrhdz8YM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=3BxMrhdz8YM[/video]
[video=youtube;K6npFC6dugg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=K6npFC6dugg[/video]
[Note: Thank you to PakChina for the article link and HouShanghai for the video links.]
Calling Tiangong 1 a "cornerstone" is inaccurate. Tiangong 1 is a test vehicle for docking and a temporary space laboratory. It will not be part of a larger station, after all, it only has a single docking port.
That said, the Tiangong vehicles will be used in the future to ferry supplies to the future stations, unmanned. Similar (but more capable than) Russia's Progress ferrys.
Schumacher
Senior Member
China firms going into international wind power market.
"China wind blows strong in Ireland
Published 8:43 AM, 6 Jul 2011
Updated 8:48 AM, 6 Jul 2011
A week of industrial-scale initiatives in wind and solar had as its highlight Chinese turbine manufacturer Sinovel's capture of a deal to supply 1GW of turbines to Ireland. The transaction will be by far the largest coup for a Chinese wind turbine maker in Europe so far, and will create some anxiety in countries such as Germany, Spain and Denmark that have established turbine assembly industries.
Sinovel will supply the machines for €1.5 billion ($US2.2 billion) worth of wind farms under development over the next five years by Irish company Mainstream Renewable Power.
Mainstream, headed by Eddie O'Connor, the entrepreneur behind Airtricity, one of the most active wind farm developers of the last decade, says it will get debt finance for the new projects from China Development Bank, the state-owned lender.
The deal between Mainstream and Sinovel will shine a spotlight on the dilemma facing political leaders in Europe and North America over the supply of renewable energy technology. China produces many of the cheapest wind turbines and solar panels in the world, providing the opportunity for countries to install low-cost renewable power. On the other hand, importing Chinese hardware will not create the "green jobs" that politicians crave.
Sinovel is attempting to assuage this concern by raising the prospect of inward investment in Ireland, or nearby. Lecheng Li, the company's senior vice president, said: “As we gain certainty on project execution schedules, we will review our plans for localising operation and maintenance activities as well as possible component manufacturing.”
Ireland is not the first European country to see the prospect of the installation of Chinese-made turbines. In April, Sinovel agreed to team up with Athens-based Public Power Corporation to develop wind farms in Greece.
And the US has been the scene of a number of deals involving Chinese turbine makers in the last two years. Mainstream is developing a 106.5-megawatt project in Illinois with China’s Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, and Goldwind also has projects in Minnesota, Ohio and Rhode Island.
Elsewhere in the clean energy sector last week, many of the big moves also involved large-scale use of established technology................................................."
"China wind blows strong in Ireland
Published 8:43 AM, 6 Jul 2011
Updated 8:48 AM, 6 Jul 2011
A week of industrial-scale initiatives in wind and solar had as its highlight Chinese turbine manufacturer Sinovel's capture of a deal to supply 1GW of turbines to Ireland. The transaction will be by far the largest coup for a Chinese wind turbine maker in Europe so far, and will create some anxiety in countries such as Germany, Spain and Denmark that have established turbine assembly industries.
Sinovel will supply the machines for €1.5 billion ($US2.2 billion) worth of wind farms under development over the next five years by Irish company Mainstream Renewable Power.
Mainstream, headed by Eddie O'Connor, the entrepreneur behind Airtricity, one of the most active wind farm developers of the last decade, says it will get debt finance for the new projects from China Development Bank, the state-owned lender.
The deal between Mainstream and Sinovel will shine a spotlight on the dilemma facing political leaders in Europe and North America over the supply of renewable energy technology. China produces many of the cheapest wind turbines and solar panels in the world, providing the opportunity for countries to install low-cost renewable power. On the other hand, importing Chinese hardware will not create the "green jobs" that politicians crave.
Sinovel is attempting to assuage this concern by raising the prospect of inward investment in Ireland, or nearby. Lecheng Li, the company's senior vice president, said: “As we gain certainty on project execution schedules, we will review our plans for localising operation and maintenance activities as well as possible component manufacturing.”
Ireland is not the first European country to see the prospect of the installation of Chinese-made turbines. In April, Sinovel agreed to team up with Athens-based Public Power Corporation to develop wind farms in Greece.
And the US has been the scene of a number of deals involving Chinese turbine makers in the last two years. Mainstream is developing a 106.5-megawatt project in Illinois with China’s Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, and Goldwind also has projects in Minnesota, Ohio and Rhode Island.
Elsewhere in the clean energy sector last week, many of the big moves also involved large-scale use of established technology................................................."
Martian
Senior Member
China's weekend attempt at world submersible depth record
"China races to the bottom of the ocean
By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai
6:00PM BST 15 Jul 2011
China has launched a major new mission to explore the deep seas, building the only manned submersible in the world capable of navigating the ocean floor at 7,000m (23,000ft) below sea level.
Jiaolong submarine
Over the weekend, the 26ft-long Jiaolong submersible, named after a shape-shifting water dragon from Chinese mythology, will attempt to dive to 5,000m (16,404ft) in the Pacific Ocean to the south east of Hawaii.
If it succeeds, the titanium-hulled vessel will attempt to become the world's current deepest-diving submersible by dropping to 7,000m below sea level.
The craft's three crew members, Tang Jialing, Fu Wentao and Ye Cong, have trained for years for the dive, even taking a series of dives in Alvin, the American deep sea submersible, in 2005.
The only expedition which has ever gone deeper was the dive of the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960, a 7ft-wide sphere with 5-inch thick steel walls that dropped to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Pacific's Mariana trench. The Trieste was unable however to navigate on the bottom.
The Trieste, which resembled an underwater hot-air balloon, took Jacques Piccard, the son of its inventor, and Don Walsh, a US naval officer, to 10,916m (35,814ft) below the surface, despite one of its outer window panes cracking under pressure. The men reported back that they had spotted soles and flounders flapping in the ooze at the bottom.
The Jiaolong would "take the international community by surprise", according to Li Haiqing, a spokesman for China's State Oceanic Administration. All the details about its 47-day mission, however, have been classified as state secrets.
Another sign of China's growing scientific ambition, the Jiaolong was conceived as part of the 863 programme, a well-funded national high-technology plan that also helped to build China's Shenzhou spacecraft.
While the Jiaolong's current mission is purely scientific, the Chinese government is hoping its new ability to explore the deep will put it in prime position to explore and extract vast deposits of metals, including gold, copper and zinc, that lie in the sea bed.
China has already signed a deal with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to map an area of 30,000 sq miles of the Pacific, according to Jin Jiancai, secretary general of the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development department.
"With permits from the ISA, China will be able to explore minerals and other resources for commercial purposes in this area once the technology matures," Mr Jin said. The ISA regulates mining in international waters and is currently considering applications to hunt for minerals from China and Russia as well as Nauru and Tonga, which are sponsoring private mining companies.
Wang Pinxian, the head of the State Laboratory of Marine Geology at Tongji university, said China's limited natural resources, and its thirst for everything from oil to copper to coal, had led it to start considering ocean mining. "One project, a gas exploration mission in the South China Sea has already been decided," he said.
The Jiaolong has already dived to more than 3,600m in the South China Sea last year, where it planted a small Chinese flag in the sea bed with a robotic arm, despite territorial disputes between China and other South East Asian countries over who has sovereignty over the waters."
----------
A Chinese submersible -- a small submarine that relies on a support vessel -- places the national flag on the seafloor in the South China Sea on June 29, 2010. According to the New York Times, this mission signaled Beijing's intention to take regional lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor, which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources.
The submersible -- named Jiaolong, after a mythical sea dragon -- has successfully reached 3,759 meters beneath sea level during a manned test. It is designed to dive to a depth of 7,000 meters. (Photo credit: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images. Caption credit: Foreign Policy editorial researcher Philip Walker.)
"China races to the bottom of the ocean
By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai
6:00PM BST 15 Jul 2011
China has launched a major new mission to explore the deep seas, building the only manned submersible in the world capable of navigating the ocean floor at 7,000m (23,000ft) below sea level.
Jiaolong submarine
Over the weekend, the 26ft-long Jiaolong submersible, named after a shape-shifting water dragon from Chinese mythology, will attempt to dive to 5,000m (16,404ft) in the Pacific Ocean to the south east of Hawaii.
If it succeeds, the titanium-hulled vessel will attempt to become the world's current deepest-diving submersible by dropping to 7,000m below sea level.
The craft's three crew members, Tang Jialing, Fu Wentao and Ye Cong, have trained for years for the dive, even taking a series of dives in Alvin, the American deep sea submersible, in 2005.
The only expedition which has ever gone deeper was the dive of the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960, a 7ft-wide sphere with 5-inch thick steel walls that dropped to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Pacific's Mariana trench. The Trieste was unable however to navigate on the bottom.
The Trieste, which resembled an underwater hot-air balloon, took Jacques Piccard, the son of its inventor, and Don Walsh, a US naval officer, to 10,916m (35,814ft) below the surface, despite one of its outer window panes cracking under pressure. The men reported back that they had spotted soles and flounders flapping in the ooze at the bottom.
The Jiaolong would "take the international community by surprise", according to Li Haiqing, a spokesman for China's State Oceanic Administration. All the details about its 47-day mission, however, have been classified as state secrets.
Another sign of China's growing scientific ambition, the Jiaolong was conceived as part of the 863 programme, a well-funded national high-technology plan that also helped to build China's Shenzhou spacecraft.
While the Jiaolong's current mission is purely scientific, the Chinese government is hoping its new ability to explore the deep will put it in prime position to explore and extract vast deposits of metals, including gold, copper and zinc, that lie in the sea bed.
China has already signed a deal with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to map an area of 30,000 sq miles of the Pacific, according to Jin Jiancai, secretary general of the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development department.
"With permits from the ISA, China will be able to explore minerals and other resources for commercial purposes in this area once the technology matures," Mr Jin said. The ISA regulates mining in international waters and is currently considering applications to hunt for minerals from China and Russia as well as Nauru and Tonga, which are sponsoring private mining companies.
Wang Pinxian, the head of the State Laboratory of Marine Geology at Tongji university, said China's limited natural resources, and its thirst for everything from oil to copper to coal, had led it to start considering ocean mining. "One project, a gas exploration mission in the South China Sea has already been decided," he said.
The Jiaolong has already dived to more than 3,600m in the South China Sea last year, where it planted a small Chinese flag in the sea bed with a robotic arm, despite territorial disputes between China and other South East Asian countries over who has sovereignty over the waters."
----------
A Chinese submersible -- a small submarine that relies on a support vessel -- places the national flag on the seafloor in the South China Sea on June 29, 2010. According to the New York Times, this mission signaled Beijing's intention to take regional lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor, which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources.
The submersible -- named Jiaolong, after a mythical sea dragon -- has successfully reached 3,759 meters beneath sea level during a manned test. It is designed to dive to a depth of 7,000 meters. (Photo credit: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images. Caption credit: Foreign Policy editorial researcher Philip Walker.)
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broadsword
Brigadier
Re: China's weekend attempt at world submersible depth record
KingLouis,
This is China's first attempt to dive to 7000 m. Previous reported dives were not as deep.
KingLouis,
This is China's first attempt to dive to 7000 m. Previous reported dives were not as deep.
Red___Sword
Junior Member
Re: China's weekend attempt at world submersible depth record
If I am not wrong, the project aims to 7000m, but it divided into several phases.
At this phase which in a matter of speaking, might exactly starting several hours from now - aims to reach 5000m, getting crucial data and experience, for the next phase that go beyond 7000m.
7000m mission is yet to come, however.
If I am not wrong, the project aims to 7000m, but it divided into several phases.
At this phase which in a matter of speaking, might exactly starting several hours from now - aims to reach 5000m, getting crucial data and experience, for the next phase that go beyond 7000m.
7000m mission is yet to come, however.
broadsword
Brigadier
Re: China's weekend attempt at world submersible depth record
You're right.
According to Xinhuanews,
"2011-07-16 14:57:06
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying China's deep-diving submersible Jiaolong reached the northeastern Pacific Ocean 2 p.m. Saturday (Beijing time) where the submersible will make a 5,000-meter dive."
You're right.
According to Xinhuanews,
"2011-07-16 14:57:06
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying China's deep-diving submersible Jiaolong reached the northeastern Pacific Ocean 2 p.m. Saturday (Beijing time) where the submersible will make a 5,000-meter dive."
defaultuser1
Banned Idiot
Twitter is microblogging and it is an original concept, that evolved from the blog. The blog first appeared in America. So yes, Sina's microblog is inherently a copy with enhancements.
Secondly, Twitter is consistently blocked in China.
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