China's Space Program News Thread

[anzha]

And more on the far reaches of the solar systems missions proposed for 2049:

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[by78]

This is pretty big news. The 31st Institute of CASIC has successfully completed initial testing of the pre-cooler for a combined-cycle engine, with the results exceeding all expectations. This combined-cycle engine is code named Cloud Dragon (云龙), but I'm not sure if it's RBCC, TBCC, or TRCC. Another milestone toward a single-stage spaceplane.

 

[by78]

In other news, a new LM-3B launch pad has just been completed at Xichang launch center.

 

[gelgoog]

? I would have thought LM-3B would be getting phased out in favor of LM-7.

 

[Jiang ZeminFanboy]

And more on the far reaches of the solar systems missions proposed for 2049:

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Is it possible to make a spaceship faster? E.g in 10 years reach the edge of solar system.

 

[voyager1]

Is it possible to make a spaceship faster? E.g in 10 years reach the edge of solar system.

I dont think so. They need a LOT of speed and they take that with gravity assistance by the planets. So they get near a planet, they get gravity speed, then they move to the next planet and so on.

Its not like the spacecraft will take a straight line from the Earth directly to the edge of the solar system. I am sure that if you could find a map, the spacecrafts' path would contain a lot of circles and barely any straight lines

 

[eprash]

@by78 Docking mechanism?

 

[anzha]

I dont think so. They need a LOT of speed and they take that with gravity assistance by the planets. So they get near a planet, they get gravity speed, then they move to the next planet and so on.

Its not like the spacecraft will take a straight line from the Earth directly to the edge of the solar system. I am sure that if you could find a map, the spacecrafts' path would contain a lot of circles and barely any straight lines

The best thing to do would be to use the largest rocket you have, lob the spacecraft as hard as you can and then...use electric propulsion like the 'ion drive' or 'plasma thruster' to increase velocity. The spacecraft will constantly, if slowly accelerate then. This is assuming you just want to get to a particular distance. If you are trying to pull a rendezvous that is a bit more complicated.

 

[Xizor]

Is it possible to make a spaceship faster? E.g in 10 years reach the edge of solar system.

Well Ion thrusters are especially useful for Long distance travel.

Hall effect Ion thrusters, NASA Xenon Thruster, Glenn Annular Ion Thruster... You can read more about them. The technology is proven and in use. China also develop Ion thrust tech.

 

[BoraTas]

Is it possible to make a spaceship faster? E.g in 10 years reach the edge of solar system.

You can. You want it to reach the edge in 10 years instead of 25 years so you need to have the ratio of fueled rocket mass/dry rocket mass roughly 12.2 times greater. This is extremely hard as the engine weight and structural weight have to increase with larger fuel tanks too. Or you need an engine with 2.5 times better specific impulse. This is outright impossible. The theoric maximum for chemical engines is 705s and the best real engines are at 460s. It seems we are so far away from such a rocket that even infinite funding wouldn't solve this.