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Andrew Jones

@AJ_FI

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Journalist tracking China's space programme. Correspondent at @SpaceNews_Inc ; @SPACEdotcom @exploreplanets @IEEESpectrum | @AndrewJonesSpace @universeodon .com

Finland
Joined December 2009
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 months
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
So, here's quite a amazing video of Tianwen-1 passing Mars as it enters orbit (CNSA/PEC)
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
5 years
Fantastic! This is yesterday's solar eclipse as seen from lunar orbit by a small camera on a tiny 45 kg satellite.
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Andrew Jones
22 days
Drone footage from Deep Blue Aerospace's VTVL attempt today. Great view of the landing and explosion.
@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
23 days
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 months
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
6 years
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:
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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:
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
Another surprise from China's Tianwen-1 Mars spacecraft, this time to celebrate Chinese New Year, with a video taken using a selfie stick. CNSA/PEC
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
First images from Zhurong rover in Utopia Planitia (CNSA/PEC)
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
2 years
New images of the Moon and Earth taken by South Korean spacecraft Danuri (KPLO) on Dec. 24 & Dec. 28. (KARI)
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@kari2030
한국항공우주연구원
2 years
#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
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
2 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
5 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
6 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
We have visual! Here's a first image of Mars from Tianwen-1! Source: (CASC/CNSA)
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
Some booster wreckage downrange of Jiuquan after the launch of Shenzhou-12, with hazardous orange nitrogen tetroxide oxidiser gas escaping
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
1 month
Here's the secondary ignition--the first time this has been achieved in a Chinese VTVL test.
@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
1 month
Official video from Landspace.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
6 years
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).
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
1 year
Hop test: China's iSpace has conducted a ~200 metre altitude VTVL test with its Hyperbola-2 methane-liquid oxygen test stage.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
Images from China's Tianhe space station core module showing the Earth, solar arrays, and the interior. Credit: CMSA
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 months
Drone footage from the Tianlong-3 static fire test and accidental launch emerges.
@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 months
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
5 years
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:
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 months
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
This is cool. Zhurong has visited the parachute and backshell that helped the rover land in Utopia Planitia back on May 14.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
10 months
Heads up: it's been a while, but this kind of falling booster action was a feature of the Long March 3B launches of Beidou satellites from Xichang.
@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
10 months
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 months
Good news is that there are no casualties so far, according to The Paper.
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Andrew Jones
1 year
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:
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
2 years
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
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]
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
Current Chinese space station occupancy: 0 Astronauts, 2 Cows [CCTV/CMSA]
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
1 year
Spotted: LRO camera team has found the impact site of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander
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Andrew Jones
3 years
Went running. Ended up standing still for a while.
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Andrew Jones
4 years
Chang'e-5 reentry capsule found!
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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:
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
Remember the remote camera that Zhurong dropped for the rover/lander selfie? It captured super cool footage of Zhurong driving away [CNSA]
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Andrew Jones
4 years
WOW! Moment of ignition of the Chang'e-5 ascent vehicle
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
"Sorry mate, you must've left it up in orbit."
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Andrew Jones
6 years
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 ).
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
Chang'e-5 has entered lunar orbit, Xinhua reports on Sina Weibo.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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
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Andrew Jones
4 years
China: daring, multi-billion-dollar, 23-day Moon-and-back mission to collect lunar samples Cosmic fox: MINE
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
5 years
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
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 months
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.
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Andrew Jones
5 years
This is cool. The far side of the Moon and distant Earth from the Queqiao communications relay satellite for the Chang'e-4 mission. [Image: CAST]
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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]
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Andrew Jones
23 days
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.
@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
23 days
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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?"
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
Oh. Here's the latest launch from China's space contractor CASC. Well ordered, but not sure about that exhaust... Source: [CASC/weibo]
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
17 days
This is just a promo video, but there's a considerable chance that Wang Yaping becomes the first woman on the Moon.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
17 days
China's human spaceflight agency has revealed its lunar EVA suit. Targeting crewed lunar landing before 2030.
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Andrew Jones
6 years
A sped-up gif of Yutu-2 being deployed onto the lunar surface.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
"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
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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)
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Andrew Jones
1 month
Official video from Landspace.
@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
1 month
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.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
4 years
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:
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Andrew Jones
2 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
Insane image of the Tianhe robotic arm, apparently taken by an astronaut and their smart phone. Source: Weibo/China航天/北京蓝龙 ​
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Andrew Jones
3 years
Some great images from Friday's Shenzhou-13 launch. Photographer: Yang Jun; source: CMSA
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Andrew Jones
3 years
New photos of the Earth taken by Shenzhou-12 astronauts Tang Hongbo and Liu Boming aboard the Tianhe space station module released today by CMSA.
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@AJ_FI
Andrew Jones
3 years
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
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 years
Footage of the ascent vehicle lifting off from the Moon and back into space
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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).
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Andrew Jones
3 years
These are some pretty spectacular views from the Chinese space station robotic arm [CMSA]
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Andrew Jones
2 years
Ah, this could the Long March 5B reentry over Malaysia.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
And here's said camera tumbling off into deep space... [CNSA/PEC]
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Andrew Jones
3 years
Oh, and here's a new image from Zhurong (3 stitched together)...
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Andrew Jones
5 years
Video of the Yutu-2 rover making the first tracks on the far side of the Moon after deployment from the Chang'e-4 lander in January 2019.
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Andrew Jones
2 years
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:
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
5 years
This is awesome: BepiColombo closing in on Earth. Looks utterly sci-fi.
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Andrew Jones
4 years
The Chang'e-5 reentry capsule has landed.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
The Zhurong rover descended from the landing platform today at 02:40 UTC (May 22). Awaiting images.
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Andrew Jones
6 years
Chang'e-4 has landed successfully on the far side of the Moon!
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Andrew Jones
6 years
This is how Yutu-2 rolls #ChangE4 #Yutu2 source:
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
4 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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.
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Andrew Jones
3 years
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].
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