Wow. This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stage by China's Space Pioneer. That's catastrophic, not static. Firm was targeting an orbital launch in the coming months.
Wow! This is yet another surprise from the Tianwen-1 mission. The orbiter had apparently released a small sub satellite while in Mars orbit, returning these outrageous images. [CNSA/CLEP/PEC]
Ah. We have an update from Yutu-2 on the lunar far side, including an image of a cubic shape on the northern horizon ~80m away from the rover in Von Kármán crater. Referred to as "神秘小屋" ("mystery house"), the next 2-3 lunar days will be spent getting closer to check it out.
Here's the video of the VTVL test. Landing legs deploy, accuracy good, but that's quite a fall after engine cutoff. Deep Blue Aerospace statement says they succeeded with 10 of 11 objectives in their statement.
Another view here. Got to hope that there are no casualties. This is absolutely wild. And Space Pioneer has already reached orbit with Tianlong-2, so this is just staggering.
Here's the real-time descent and landing of the Chang'e-4 lander onto the far side of the Moon, with apparent hazard avoidance manoeuvres
#ChangE4
Source:
Oh, this is amazing. Close to tears. Ourspace has published an update on the "mystery hut" and it's so underwhelming it's brilliant. It's just a small rock on a crater rim that they're now calling "jade rabbit" for its appearance. Source:
Ah. We have an update from Yutu-2 on the lunar far side, including an image of a cubic shape on the northern horizon ~80m away from the rover in Von Kármán crater. Referred to as "神秘小屋" ("mystery house"), the next 2-3 lunar days will be spent getting closer to check it out.
#달 상공에서 #다누리 가 보낸 인증샷📷✨
이 사진은 다누리에 탑재된 고해상도 카메라(LUTI)를 이용해 촬영하였으며, 달 크레이터들과 지구의 모습을 선명하게 확인할 수 있습니다.
📷사진 설명
1)12월 24일 달 상공 344km에서 촬영한 사진
2)12월 28일 달 상공 124km에서 촬영한 사진
Oh boy. So Chinese methalox rocket engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian has tested its Longyun-70 engines with a stainless steel tank made by Space Epoch, a Chinese launch startup that wants to develop an initial mini version of SpaceX's Starship.
This is the mesmeric video of Chang'e-4 making the first ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon a year ago (02:26 UTC Jan. 3, 2019). The lack of sense of altitude & scale is remarkable.
This is kind of incredible. Images of the Earth and Moon, taken by a small Saudi camera on a small 45 kg Chinese satellite in lunar orbit (Longjiang-2/DSLWP-B), as part of the Chang'e-4 relay satellite launch.
The Chang'e-4 spacecraft is expected to attempt an unprecedented landing on the far side of the Moon sometime within the next 24 hours. Rumors suggest a landing between 00:30-01:00 UTC Thursday (08:30 Beijing time/19:30 Eastern, 16:30 Pacific Weds).
So yeah, it's not an obelisk or aliens, but certainly something to check out, and hard to discern much from the image. But large boulders (right) are sometimes excavated by impacts, as seen by the Chang'e-3 mission, which launched 8 years ago on Dec 1. [CNSA/CLEP]
Wow. This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stage by China's Space Pioneer. That's catastrophic, not static. Firm was targeting an orbital launch in the coming months.
This is the aftermath downrange following a Chinese Long March 3B launch from Xichang early Saturday. And that yellow smoke is very toxic hypergolic propellant. Source:
Three years ago, Jan. 3 2019, Chang'e-4 made the first-ever landing on the far side of the Moon. Here's the final descent, including hovering during hazard avoidance, and landing in Von Kármán crater [CNSA/CLEP].
#OTD
Well well well. China's commercial space launch sector is already bursting with companies, but here's another anyway. 大航跃迁/Cosmoleap, founded earlier this year. You'll love the image/concept.
Chang'e-5 has been busy scooping and drilling for samples from the landing site in Oceanus Procellarum. Here's gif of the scoop arm in action, placing material into the sample container.
Pretty cool footage of a 100 metre altitude vertical takeoff, vertical landing test by Chinese launch startup Deep Blue Aerospace today, following a 10-metre test in July. [DBA]
We can expect the Chang'e-5 lander to make its attempt to set down near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum today. It's widely expected (though not 100% certain) that the the 15-minute descent will begin ~14:58 UTC, according to a leak on Chinese social media. Under 8 hours to go.
So, Zhurong went and placed a remote camera on the ground and then went back towards the lander for this group photo in Utopia Planitia, Chinese flags lined up and all. Quite the effort. [CNSA/PEC]
Oh! Here's a concept for a low-cost, reusable two-stage methane-LOX rocket from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Might appear somewhat familiar.
Launches: At 2239 UTC Dec. 25 a CZ-11 launched the Shiyan-24C trio of experimental sats from a sea barge off Guangdong. At 0326 Dec. 26, a CZ-3B+YZ-1 lifted off from Xichang carrying Beidou sats 57 & 58 into medium Earth orbits. These were 64th & 65th Chinese launches of 2023.
Okay, so China is going full Starship with its Long March 9. Two test launches ~2033 and aiming for full reusability with the two-stage variant. Source:
So China currently has seven operational spacecraft on or around the Moon: Chang'e-3 lander, Chang'e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover, Queqiao relay satellite, CE-5 T1 orbiter, CE5 orbiter and CE-5 lander/ascent vehicle. That's a lot of lunar apparatus.
Separation of the Chang'e-5 lander & ascent vehicle from the service module occurred at 20:40 UTC Sunday (04:40 Beijing time). Here's the view from the service module.
Deep Blue Aerospace yesterday conducted a one kilometre level launch and landing VTVL test with its Nebula-M test article, as part of development of the Nebula-1 reusable orbital launcher.
Fantastic footage of the Chang'e-5 descent and landing released. Great view of the horizon there are clear phases of deceleration, the spacecraft going vertical, coarse hazard avoidance, hovering and then the landing. [CNSA/CLEP]
More stunning visuals from Chang'e-5. The ascent vehicle has separated from the orbiter. This followed yesterday's first ever automated rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit and transfer of the lunar samples to the reentry capsule. Source:
Finally, some images from Queqiao, the relay satellite for the Chang'e-4 far side mission, showing the Earth and Moon! Queqiao is in a halo orbit at a Lagrange point 65,000-80,000 beyond the Moon to relay comms between Earth & CE-4 on the far side (H/T
@LaunchStuff
).
And so we have China's answer to New Shephard. CAS Space, a Chinese Academy of Sciences launch spinoff, is developing reusable suborbital tourism rocket. Ambitiously aiming for 1st flight demo test in 2022, tourism services in 2024. 7 passengers to 100 km
This is cool. A 3D/VR version of the completed Chinese Space Station in which you can wander around through Tianhe, the experiment modules, docking hub and Shenzhou. From China's human spaceflight agency.
The colossal 500-metre-diameter FAST radio telescope in southwest China officially entered service today after more than 3 years of testing and debugging. It is the largest radio telescope in the world with a collecting area equivalent to 30 football fields. Image: 中国国家天文
The above is from a solar array surveillance cam. Amazingly the atmosphere appears discernible as do surface features. Here's more footage, from an antenna surveillance cam.
Space Pioneer just issued a statement saying there was structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench, onboard computer automatically shut it down, and the rocket fell 1.5 kilometers southwest. No casualties found.
Zhurong update: New panorama from the rover close to a dune. Zhurong has covered 1064 metres as of August 30, continuing south of the landing platform [CNSA/PEC]
Huge Zhurong update: Here's full footage of the Zhurong rover's EDL, showing parachute deployment, backshell separation, and landing, including very cool hover during hazard avoidance phase. [CNSA/PEC]
Success. The Chang'e-5 ascent vehicle and orbiter have completed rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit. Massive step towards bringing home fresh lunar samples.
China's human spaceflight agency has released images from the Shenzhou-12 crew aboard the Tianhe space station module. The below were taken recently by astronaut Tang Hongbo [CMSA]
Here's the video of the VTVL test. Landing legs deploy, accuracy good, but that's quite a fall after engine cutoff. Deep Blue Aerospace statement says they succeeded with 10 of 11 objectives in their statement.
Deep Blue Aerospace's new hop test (5-10 km level) failed in the final stages today in Inner Mongolia, according to this news report. Waiting for video of the attempt.
China's Zhurong rover Mars EDL:
1) 9 minutes of something approximating terror
2) 18 minutes of light delay/ontological deliberation
3) 90 minutes of info blackout & confusion
4) Official success
5) 2 Days & counting of "so where are the photos?"
From inside sources, Zhurong has successfully landed in Utopia Planitia. We are now just waiting for the official announcement, likely from Chinese state media, possible CCTV.
The Chang'e-5 lunar samples container has been removed from the reentry capsule and found to have a mass of 1,731 grams (just under the ~2 kg planned). Images from China Space News.
"I've been thinking how to get my daughter prepared for my six-month-long flight... We agreed tasks for each other. I want her to take care of herself & grandparents & enjoy school. She wants me to pick stars & pick many for her & her classmates" — Wang Yaping [CMSA]
#Shenzhou13
First high-resolution images released from Tianwen-1. The colour image is a medium-res camera shot of Mars' north pole & 2 hi-res images of Utopia Planitia, the rover's primary landing area. (CNSA/CLEP)
Landspace has successfully conducted a 10-kilometer-level vertical take-off and vertical landing, including engine restart, using its Zhuque-3 vtvl-1 test article. Test lasted 200 seconds. Landspace aims for 1st flight in 2025, 1st stage recovery in 2026.
Oof. Yet again. Apparent debris from the Long March 3B rocket which launched the Beidou-3 satellite launch today, landing close to a reservoir in Yuqing county, Guizhou. Source:
There's some reporting that the 500-meter aperture FAST radio telescope in Guizhou, China has detected candidates for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence, including a suspicious signal from exoplanet target observation data. This is interesting, but don't get too excited.
Here we go. The Long March 2F to launch 3 astronauts aboard Shenzhou-12 to China's space station module has been transferred to the pad at Jiuquan, CASC announces
Shenzhou-13 spacewalk
#1
is now underway with Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping heading outside Tianhe. Wang becomes China's first woman to participate in an EVA. Spacewalk to last around six hours.
Two years ago today Chang'e-4 made the first ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon. This is the mesmeric footage of the descent and touchdown. Both the lander and Yutu-2 are still operational (hibernating until start of lunar day 25 starting early Jan. 8).
Well, China took a more clandestine approach to the first Shenzhou-15 EVA, just not announcing that Fei Junlong & Zhang Lu the 7-hour spacewalk was completed at 1616 UTC today, returning to the Wentian module. A snippet of action below:
There are now--for a few days at least--3 operational Chang'e landers on the Moon. That's something. This is though merely the start of a new era of lunar exploration. We may have quite an exciting decade ahead.
24 hours to liftoff of the Chang'e-5 ascent vehicle from Oceanus Procellarum. This is uncharted territory for China, and is a huge moment for the sample return mission.
Landspace has this month carried out successful joint hot fire tests of the TQ-12 80-ton and TQ-11 10-ton methalox engines, a configuration for the second stage of the company's in-development Zhuque-2 launch vehicle.
Mission patches for Shenzhou-12, Tianhe, Tianzhou-2, which seem to fit together. Could the 11 missions for construction of the Chinese space station complete a circle? Lots of hard work ahead.
Colourised version of an image of comet Leonard captured by Chinese space resources company Origin Space's Yangwang-1 space telescope and featured by NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day [Origin Space].