2023: Relive the amazing moments of "the great power's heavy weapon"

C919 "spreads its wings", giant ships go out to sea, "Shenzhou" spacecraft goes to "Tiangong", Long March series launch vehicles set new launch records, "China's Sky Eye" and "Artificial Sun" explore unknown mysteries...

In the past year, my country's scientific and technological innovation has achieved new breakthroughs, and one after another "major national equipment" has made a stunning appearance. The "National Innovation Index Report 2022-2023" shows that China's comprehensive ranking of innovation capabilities has risen to 10th place, making it the only developing country to enter the top 15, and taking a further step towards the forefront of innovative countries. Let's follow the reporter's camera to relive the stunning moments of the "major national equipment" in 2023.

Long March series launch vehicle completes 500th launch

On December 10, my country successfully launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Xu Lihao)

On the morning of December 10, my country successfully launched the Remote Sensing Satellite No. 39 into space using the Long March 2D carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This was the 500th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets.

Since the launch of the Dongfanghong-1 satellite by the Long March-1 carrier rocket in 1970, China's space program has completed the leap from 0 to 500 in 53 years. The first 100 launches of Long March rockets took 37 years, the second 100 launches took 7 years, the third 100 launches took 4 years, the fourth 100 launches took 2 years and 9 months, and the fifth 100 launches took only 2 years, constantly breaking new records in China's space program.

China's space station enters application and development stage

On November 28, China's manned space program released for the first time a panoramic photo of the space station complex taken by the Shenzhou 16 crew using a high-definition camera as the spacecraft flew around before returning to Earth. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the China Manned Space Program Office)

In 2023, China's space station will enter the application and development stage, with the launch of the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft, the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft, and the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft. At present, my country has a complete near-Earth manned space station and manned earth-to-space transportation system, a mature astronaut selection and training and support system, and a well-planned manned flight mission.

The launch of the Shenzhou 17 manned spacecraft coincides with the 20th anniversary of the success of my country's first manned flight mission. In the past 20 years, my country's manned space program has achieved 30 victories in 30 launch missions. From short-term stays to medium- and long-term stays, from cabin experiments to space walks, my country's aerospace industry has continuously made new strides in high-level science and technology.

C919 large passenger aircraft successfully completed its first commercial flight

This is a photo of the C919 aircraft, which is about to take its maiden flight, taken at the apron of Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (taken on May 28, 2023). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Ting

On May 28, after a flight of 1 hour and 59 minutes, China Eastern Airlines flight MU9191, operated by the C919 large passenger aircraft, landed safely at Beijing Capital Airport. The C919 successfully completed its first commercial flight, and China's civil aviation commercial operation of domestically-made large aircraft officially "started".

The C919 large passenger aircraft is my country's first jet trunk aircraft independently developed in accordance with international airworthiness standards and with independent intellectual property rights. The project was launched in 2007, its first flight was made in 2017, and it was awarded the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China after completing all airworthiness certification work in September 2022.

The first domestically-made large cruise ship "Aida·Modu" was officially named and delivered

This is the photo of the "Aida Modu" taken on November 4. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Ting

On December 24, the first domestically-made large cruise ship, "Aida Magic City", departed from Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port for its first trial operation. The cruise ship will start its first commercial voyage on January 1, 2024.

Large cruise ships, large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and aircraft carriers are known as the "three pearls in the crown" of the shipbuilding industry. They are extremely difficult to design and build, and are landmark projects that reflect a country's industrial strength and technological level. "Aida Magic City" was built by China Shipbuilding Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. After eight years of scientific research and five years of design and construction, it was officially named and delivered in Shanghai on November 4.

"China's Sky Eye", "Artificial Sun" and other major scientific and technological infrastructure explore unknown mysteries

This is a panoramic view of the "China Sky Eye" taken on July 26 (drone photo, taken during maintenance). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu

Recently, using the "China Sky Eye" survey data, the relevant research team constructed and released the world's largest sample of neutral hydrogen galaxies, sharing high-quality large-sample observation data with galaxy and cosmology researchers around the world.

On September 25, 2016, the "China Sky Eye" was completed and put into use. Since the beginning of this year, the "China Sky Eye" has continuously expanded the limits of human observation of the universe - for the first time, it has observed the "pulse" of a black hole in the radio band, detected key evidence of the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves, and discovered the pulsar binary system with the shortest orbital period to date...

The Experimental Superconducting Tokamak Nuclear Fusion Device (EAST) photographed on May 29 at Hefei Science Island. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Xiaoyi

On April 12, China's Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), known as the "artificial sun", set a new world record, successfully achieving steady-state high-confinement mode plasma operation for 403 seconds. This is of great significance for exploring the cutting-edge physics problems of future fusion reactors, improving the economy and feasibility of nuclear fusion energy, and accelerating the realization of fusion power generation.

The "artificial sun" is a great undertaking related to human beings' realization of "energy freedom" and exploration of the mysteries of the universe. EAST integrates ultra-high temperature, ultra-low temperature, ultra-high vacuum, ultra-strong magnetic field, ultra-large current and other conditions, and "melts" cutting-edge technologies into one furnace, reflecting my country's comprehensive scientific and technological strength.

On November 7, members of the PandaX experimental group of Shanghai Jiao Tong University debugged experimental equipment at Jinping Large Facility. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Bingjie

On December 7, the civil engineering and public works of the second phase of the Jinping Underground Laboratory in China, the ultra-deep underground ultra-low radiation background frontier physics experimental facility (referred to as the Jinping Large Facility), were completed and ready for experiment. This marks that the world's deepest and largest ultra-deep underground laboratory has officially been put into scientific operation.

The Jinping large facility is the second phase of the Jinping Underground Laboratory project in China. The laboratory's cosmic ray flux is only one hundred millionth of that on the surface, and it has many advantages such as "extremely low environmental radon release", "extremely low environmental radiation", "ultra-low cosmic ray flux" and "ultra-clean space".

Panoramic view of the High Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source (HEPS) taken on December 11 (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Liwang

On March 14, the High Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source (HEPS), a major national scientific and technological infrastructure in the 13th Five-Year Plan, achieved full energy beam output and successfully accelerated the first electron beam. The High Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source has since entered the parallel stage of scientific research equipment installation and beam adjustment. On December 11, the last magnet of the HEPS storage ring was installed in place, marking the closure of the installation of the main equipment of the HEPS storage ring.

HEPS is like an oversized X-ray machine that can "see clearly" the microscopic world and reveal the generation and evolution mechanism of the microscopic structure of matter.

This is a composite photo of the LHAASO high altitude cosmic ray observatory under the starry sky taken on the night of April 21. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Liwang

On May 10, the High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory "LHAASO", a major national scientific and technological infrastructure with cosmic ray observation and research as its core goal, passed the national acceptance.

Scientists have used the "Lasso" to completely record the entire process of the teravolt gamma-ray burst of GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst to date, and accurately measured the high-energy radiation energy spectrum of GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst to date, and based on this, they have gained a new understanding of gamma-ray bursts. (Reporters Hu Zhe, Song Chen, Zhang Quan, Wen Jinghua)