Tag: CNSA
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Launch Roundup: Electron launches for the 50th time; Falcon 9 returns to normal operations
Concluding a rare week that was void of any launches and riddled with scrubs, the spaceflight industry looks to return to the planned course of action with four launches from all over the world. This week, the 50th launch of Electron has taken flight, and SpaceX and CASC continue to dominate the launch calendar. SpaceX…
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Through international collaboration, scientists find cause of InSight’s most powerful Marsquake
An international team of scientists has found the cause of the largest Martian seismic event, or Marsquake, observed by NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) Mars lander. After ruling out a meteor impact, they concluded the event must have been caused by a release of stress within the planet’s crust.…
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China reveals lunar lander, launches satellites, and conducts a spacewalk
China has stayed busy over the last week, launching a new set of Tianhui-6 satellites into space while detailing plans for their first lunar missions in 2030. Furthermore, a new change could impact the Chang Zheng 5B rocket and reduce the chances of an uncontrolled reentry. Finally, an EVA was conducted on the Tiangong Space…
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China finishing busy Space station year with Shenzhou-15
China has launched the Shenzhou-15 mission to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday, Nov. 29, during an instantaneous launch window at 15:08 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC). It launched three taikonauts to the station to replace the current crew of the Shenzhou-14 mission, using a Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) rocket and launching…
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Three spacewalks completed across two days on two space stations
In low Earth orbit (LEO) this week, NASA, Roscosmos, and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) performed spacewalks outside humankind’s two permanently-crewed space stations. NASA conducted its Extravehicular Activity, or EVA (colloquially referred to as a spacewalk), on Tuesday, Nov. 15 on the International Space Station (ISS), with China following on Nov. 17 outside their…
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China performs second EVA in two weeks, Chang Zheng 2D launch
China conducted another EVA outside of their Tiangong Space Station, preparing the station for the future and practicing safety mechanisms for upcoming EVAs. They also launched the Yunhai-1-03 payload from Jiuquan on board a Chang Zheng 2D rocket. Shenzhou-14 Mission Conducts Second Spacewalk On Sept. 17, Chinese taikonauts Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe started the…
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China debuts Chang Zheng 6A, teases more variants
China successfully debuted one of its new generation vehicles on Tuesday when the Chang Zheng 6A successfully lifted off at 09:50 UTC (5:50 am EDT) from a brand new launch pad at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC). The rocket lifted the Pujiang-2 satellite and the Tiankun-2 payload to a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). This is…
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After a year filled with new missions and discoveries, Mars and its robots look ahead to 2022
After the successful launch of three new Mars missions in the summer of 2020, Mars exploration was looking to have a groundbreaking year in 2021. Astonishingly, all three missions — NASA’s Mars 2020, China’s Tianwen-1, and the United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter — successfully arrived at Mars in February, and have already sent back amazing…
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Shenzhou-12 and three crew members successfully launch to new Chinese space station
The first crewed mission to the new Chinese Space Station has successfully launched. Shenzhou-12, carrying three taikonauts, lifted off on Thursday June 17 at 01:22 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest China. Shenzhou-12 launched on top of the human-rated Long March 2F vehicle, which is based on the…
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China releases first pictures from Zhurong rover since Mars landing
China’s Zhurong rover sits atop the Tianwen 1 mission’s landing platform on Mars. Credit: CNSA China’s space agency released the first pictures from the Zhurong Mars rover Wednesday, showing the six-wheel robot ready to drive down a ramp from its landing platform to begin exploring the Red Planet. The 529-pound (240-kilogram) Zhurong rover landed Friday,…