CHINA SPACESTATION ION THRUSTERS
I digress. I just got off Seeking Alpha with yet another encounter with an old Boomer Xenophobe. What is wrong with these losers. For one thing, they are incapable of celebrating the achievements of others. That is a US disease far worse than COVID.
China had a huge day today. They launched three men into space and docked at their new space station. While the US Government has had a running war with China, I would have thought people in America would have been more gracious and simply applauded the achievement. I was wrong.
The United States completely ignored China’s stunning achievement:
The Chinese Space Program developed on its own without any interaction at all with the USA. In fact, China was not invited to participate in the international space station. So they built their own.
The launch was live by the way as was the docking procedure
Chinese Astronauts in the Tiangong space station
Look at the US Headlines: How embarrassing
Will China’s fast pace in the space race fuel U.S. ambitions?
China launches first astronauts to its new space station, as race with U.S. heats up
China is gaining ground in space. Should the US be concerned?
China’s push for ‘space superiority’ worries nominee for NASA deputy administrator
China’s Space Station Is Now Manned As Concerns About Its Space Ambitions Grow
Aside from the silly paranoia, of the US Media: Docking was fast!
The launch mission so far was notable for the fast docking. The Shenzhou-12 managed to deliver three Astronauts to the Tiangong space station in about six hours. US’ SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carried four astronauts to the International Space Station in late April. That trip took 23 hours. The Chinese have developed a rapid docking system.
It took the US’ SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which carried four astronauts to the International Space Station in late April, 23 hours to deliver humans to the orbiting lab after the launcher liftoff, which is nearly four times longer than that of China’s Shenzhou-12.
ION THRUSTERS used for the first time in a manned spacecraft.
This is a bit tricky. The Halls Effect thrusters have been around since the 1970s but have proven to be dangerous. They produce radiation and have been known to explode. China Academy of Science has solved the temperamental devices by encasing them in magnets and a special ceramic.
The advantage of the Ion Thrusters is they use about 800 lbs of fuel v. 10,000 lbs of fuel a year, to keep the station in orbit. This would have many advantages including a massively reduced trip to Mars in 39 days compared to 8 months! The ion thrusters could propel a spacecraft at 30 times the speed of sound.
The Spacecraft does include conventional thrusters as well.
The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST):
The “Xuntian,” will have a 2-meter diameter lens, similar to the Hubble Space Telescope. It will enhance the field of view by 300 times. It has a 2.5 Billion pixel camera.