The Palace in the Sky is about to be completed - rushing from the Heavenly Palace to the edge of the solar system

On April 24, 2022, the Dongfanghong-1 satellite, which has been launched for 52 years, is still flying in space. Although it has long run out of power, due to the characteristics of its orbit, it is very likely to orbit the earth forever in the future.

Dongfanghong-1 is still operating in space today (right image source: student.space)

This satellite has a special meaning for the 1.4 billion Chinese people. It marks that our dream of space travel for thousands of years has finally become a reality from the legend of "Chang'e flying to the moon" and "Wan Hu flying to the sky", and this day has therefore been recorded in history.

Since 2016, April 24 has been officially confirmed as "China Space Day".

The poster for the seventh China Space Day was released, created by ZZMwonder. It combines the inscriptions of various missions, the Long March 5 rocket, the Wenchang Space Launch Center, and astronauts reaching for the stars, truly "turning dreams into reality."

(Photo source: National Space Administration)

2022 is destined to be a turning point for China's space program. We will witness the Chinese people's footsteps remaining in space and gradually moving towards the moon and deep space.

The palace in heaven is about to be completed

Since the launch of the "921 Project" on September 21, 1992, after 30 years of continuous development, China's manned space program has accumulated 4 types of rockets (Long March 2F, 7, 5, 5B), 13 Shenzhou manned spacecraft, 3 Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, 3 batches of astronauts, two Tiangong target spacecraft/space laboratories and the Tiangong core module.

In 2022, China's space program will complete the construction of the Tiangong space station, realizing the last step in its manned space program - "operating a large space station with long-term in-orbit residence."

Having a space station means that we will have a long-term and stable living and working space in outer space. Astronauts can use manned rockets and spacecraft to make frequent trips between the earth and the sky and stay there for a long time.

With a series of top scientific research equipment on board, the space station will also become an important "space laboratory". The relevant scientific research results will not only directly promote the further development of aerospace technology, but also drive the development of manufacturing industries upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. It is of great significance to improving my country's overall scientific and technological level.

Yang Liwei is a witness to the epoch-making development of China's space industry

(Photo source: China Manned Spaceflight Office)

At the same time, my country will continue to develop a new generation of manned carrier rockets and a new generation of manned spacecraft. Among them, the return capsules of the new generation of manned carrier rockets and the new generation of manned spacecraft can be reused. The comprehensive capabilities of the new generation of manned spacecraft will be greatly improved, and it can carry up to 7 astronauts.

This means that our vision is no longer satisfied with near-Earth space, and in the future we will go even further, all the way to manned lunar landings and even deeper deep space exploration.

Manned lunar landing, the future is promising

At the beginning of this year, my country officially approved the fourth phase of the Chang'e lunar exploration project. Not only will Chang'e 6, 7, and 8 become a reality, but the future joint construction of a lunar research station by China and Russia and manned lunar landings have also been included in the agenda.

In the past Chang'e III mission, China has achieved remarkable achievements that have attracted worldwide attention.

On December 14, 2013, Chang'e 3 and Yutu 1 successfully soft-landed on the moon, becoming the first human messengers to visit the moon in 37 years.

On May 21, 2018, Queqiao was launched and became humanity's only Earth/Moon communications relay satellite.

On January 3, 2019, Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2 successfully landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, marking the first soft landing of a human probe on the far side of the moon.

On December 17, 2020, Chang'e-5 retrieved lunar soil samples for humans again after 44 years. Due to the large amount of remaining propellant, its orbiter is still in space to carry out new missions.

Chang'e-5 achieved the world-renowned achievement of lunar sample return

(Photo source: National Space Administration)

In the future, Chang'e-6 plans to return samples from the South Pole of the Moon, Chang'e-7 plans to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the lunar topography, material composition, and space environment, and Chang'e-8 will focus on scientific exploration experiments and further breakthroughs in key technologies.

The research and development of a new generation of manned spacecraft, a new generation of manned rockets and a new generation of heavy-lift launch vehicles will continue to make breakthroughs and point their arrows to the moon.

my country also plans to build a small international lunar research station in the next decade to support long-term, large-scale scientific exploration. Between 2030 and 2035, it will be expanded to meet the needs of short-term manned operation and long-term automatic operation.

Ultimately, a comprehensive lunar base will be built between 2036 and 2045 to enable long-term human presence, development and utilization of lunar resources, and regular round-trip flights between the Earth and the Moon.

The sea of ​​stars, rushing out of the solar system!

The solar system is the home of all human beings. It is a huge system consisting of a star, eight planets, hundreds of satellites and many more small celestial bodies. The earth seems extremely small in it. But in the face of the entire universe, even the solar system seems very insignificant. In the Milky Way alone, there are about 100-400 billion stars like the sun, and the Milky Way is just a dust in a corner of the universe.

Tsiolkovsky, the pioneer of human space flight, has a classic saying, "The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever."

If we define it according to his logic, the solar system is only mankind’s first “home”, and stepping out of home is mankind’s long-term future.

During this year's National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Academician Wu Weiren, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chief designer of China's lunar exploration project, introduced China's grand aerospace development blueprint to the media.

After Tianwen-1's successful Mars exploration, my country will continue to carry out plans such as asteroid sample return, Mars sample return, Jupiter exploration, and exploration of the more distant edge of the solar system.

Wu Weiren said: "We hope to complete 100 astronomical units in 2049 and reach a distance of 15 billion kilometers from the earth."

Conceptual image of the solar system. The Earth is just a tiny part of the universe.

(Image source: NASA)

What is the concept of an astronomical unit? This is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, which takes 500 seconds for light to travel, about 150 million kilometers, a truly "astronomical" number for humans. This is far beyond the distance of about 400 kilometers between Tiangong and the Earth's surface. The Moon is only 380,000 kilometers away from the Earth, which is only about 0.0025 astronomical units, and it takes 1.3 seconds for light to travel.

The plan introduced by Academician Wu directly directs our attention to the edge of the solar system, where it would take more than ten hours to travel at the speed of light.

Going beyond the solar system will require a new level of space technology, including heavy-lift launch vehicles, deep space communication networks, a new generation of intelligent spacecraft, spacecraft nuclear energy, deep space guidance, navigation and control, and other technologies.

These new technologies will surely create a high-level, integrated development platform for China's aerospace industry, and will also lead the future development direction of China's high-tech industry, which is of great significance.

After 52 years, the Dongfanghong-1 satellite is still operating in space, and it is also witnessing the Chinese people's footsteps moving further and further. Just as the theme of this year's China Space Day is "Space Illuminates Dreams", China's space industry is making our dreams come true one by one, and is also constantly expanding the future we can dream of.

The great era of human space travel has begun, and China cannot fall behind.

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Author: Space Craft

Producer: China Science Expo