Development of in-orbit detectors for joint space mission completed China-Europe, and are ready for integration into a satellite platform located in Europe within a year, according to the mission’s chief scientist.
The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint mission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the European Space Agency (ESA) whose objective is to deepen the knowledge of the connection between the Earth and the Sun through observation of the dynamic interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere.
SMILE is scheduled to launch in 2025 from Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, Wang Chi, director of the CAS National Space Science Center (NSSC), said Saturday at the first International Conference on Science and Technology. Space Technology, organized by the Beijing Institute of Technology.
At the meeting, Wang highlighted China’s future program for its space exploration, emphasizing the pioneering research of dark matter and gravitational waves in space, the search for habitable planets and signs of extraterrestrial life, and the advancement of space-based biological and physical science.
Wang unveiled the Hongmeng project, also known as Discovery of the Sky in the Longest Wavelengths (DSL), which is a groundbreaking effort aimed at opening a window into the Dark Ages of the universe using radio waves from megahertz level. The mission is designed to include a mother satellite and nine daughter satellites that will operate in a 300-kilometer circular lunar orbit, Wang explained.
Also on China’s deep space exploration roadmap is the Earth 2.0 mission, which will send an array of telescopes into L2 Earth-Sun orbit to explore habitable Earth-like planets outside the solar system. Wang also referred to the eXTP (Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry) project, which will launch payloads into a highly elliptical orbit to explore still mysterious celestial bodies, such as black holes and neutron stars.
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The eXTP project has already offered its collaboration to scientists from more than 20 countries, including Italy, Germany and France. China is also expected to launch satellites such as Taiji-2 into solar orbit to form a constellation with Taiji-1, which was sent into space in 2019, and carry out gravitational wave detection from space, according to Wang.
A consortium of scientists from China, France and Russia also presented their latest discoveries and perspectives in the field of space science at the meeting.
Chang’e-6 Mission
French space scientist Pierre-Yves Meslin described the progress of Detection of Outgassing RadoN (DORN), a scientific instrument developed by French scientists and carried by the Chinese Chang’e-6 lander, and praised the success of the cooperation between France and China.
After witnessing the landing of Chang’e-6 in early June, Pierre-Yves Meslin told CGTN: “We have been thinking about this moment for years and even more intensely in recent months, weeks and days. “We were looking at the moon every night here in Beijing.”
«We are very happy to be on the surface of the Moon. Our instrument will start working. “Now the pressure will be on us to succeed in our measurements.”
He said the instrument is designed to study the origin and dynamics of the lunar exosphere. It will attempt to measure a radioactive gas called radon produced by lunar rocks in the lunar interior. “This gas could migrate from the warm regions of the Moon to the cold regions of the Moon, and we will try to understand its dynamics in the lunar environment. “It will be the first time we measure it on the surface of the Moon.”
Earth 2.0 mission will send array of telescopes into L2 Earth-Sun orbit to explore habitable Earth-like planets outside the solar system
“Many thanks to China for taking us to the Moon,” Sylvestre Maurice, a French astronomer from the University of Toulouse, told CGTN after observing the moon landing process in a control room at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. .
«The landing was absolutely amazing. It is difficult to land on a planet, and it is very difficult especially on the Moon. Don’t think it’s easy. Remember that it is on the far side of the Moon, where we cannot see. And China even had to put up another relay satellite to watch the landing. They landed right where they wanted. So it’s quite an achievement, something we’ve been looking for for so many years,” Maurice said.
«The hidden side of the Moon is unique. The South Pole-Aitken basin is huge. There was an impact a long time ago that removed most of the crust, so we could have landed as close to the Moon’s mantle as possible,” Maurice said, adding that “as planetary scientists, the best we can dream of is to have samples in our laboratory. “There’s nothing better than having samples here, where we can study them and really delve into the details of the Moon’s history.”
He said French scientists have the lunar sample returned by the Chang’e-5 mission and would carry out research on it. “We have been very lucky to collaborate with China on different projects, including the Chang’e lunar program and the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars,” he added.
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