De Mao a Marte, a ‘Longa Marcha’ espacial de China

China’s space adventure, started more than 60 years ago by Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, achieved a new feat on Saturday (16) with the arrival of three ‘taikonauts’ – Chinese astronauts – at their station space to start the mission longer from Beijing. until there.

China has already invested billions of dollars in its space program and is trying to reach the same level as Europe, the United States and Russia.

Here are the main stages of the Chinese space conquest:

Mao’s call

In 1957, the Soviet Union put the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. The founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong, then calls out to his fellow citizens: “We will also manufacture satellites!”

The first stage was completed in 1970. China launches its first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 (“East is red-1”), named after a song in honor of Mao, whose melody would be broadcast during several days in space.

The rocket responsible for putting the satellite into orbit is called “Long March”, a name that recalls the history of the Red Army which enabled Mao to assert himself as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

first man

In 2003, the Asian giant sent the first Chinese into space, the taikonaut Yang Liwei, who circled the Earth 14 times in 21 hours.

With this flight, China becomes the third country, after the Soviet Union and the United States, to send a human being into space on its own.

Modules

China has been deliberately excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) program, a cooperation involving Americans, Russians, Europeans, Japanese and Canadians, and decides to build its own station.

To do this, the Asian country first launched a small space module, Tiangong-1 (“Heavenly Palace 1”), which was placed in orbit in September 2011 to carry out taikonaut training as well as medical experiments.

Tiangong-1 ceased to operate in March 2016. The lab was seen as a preliminary step towards building a space station.

In 2016, China launched its second space module, Tiangong-2, where taikonauts carried out technical couplings.

lunar rabbit

In 2013, the small remote-controlled robot, nicknamed the “Jade Rabbit”, arrived on the Moon. Initially, the equipment had technical problems, but it was reactivated and explored the lunar surface for 31 months.

The Asian giant plans to send taikonauts to the Moon in 2030 and plans to build a base on the surface of the natural satellite in collaboration with Russia.

Chinese moon and ‘GPS’

The Chinese space program suffered a setback in 2017 with the failed launch of Long March 5, crucial equipment that allows it to propel the heavy payloads necessary for certain missions.

This setback results in a three-year delay for the Chang’e 5 mission. Implemented only in 2020, the mission allows the Chinese to send samples from the lunar surface to Earth, which did not happen 40 years ago. years.

In January 2019, China achieved another success with an unprecedented feat on a global scale: the landing of a robot, the “Jade Rabbit 2”, on the far side of the Moon.

In June 2020, the Asian country launched the latest satellite to complement its Beidou navigation system, which competes with North American GPS.

Mars … and Jupiter

In July 2020, China sends the “Tianwen-1” spacecraft to Mars, carrying a wheeled, remote-controlled robot called Zhurong, which lands on the surface of Mars in May 2021.

Scientists also evoke the dream of sending people to Mars on a not-so-distant horizon. In addition, the head of the space agency, Xu Honglian, mentions the possibility of carrying out a mission to Jupiter until 2030.

Space station

On Saturday, three taikonauts arrived at China’s first Space Station, whose assembly began in April, with its central module being put into orbit.

The mission is expected to last six months, the longest scheduled for a Chinese crew, double the previous mission, launched in April, which lasted 90 days.

To complete the assembly of the station, named Tiangong (Heavenly Palace, in Chinese), eleven missions will be necessary.

When completed, the station is expected to orbit between 400 and 450 kilometers of the Earth’s surface for a period of ten years, with the ambition of maintaining human presence in space for an extended period.

In principle, China does not plan to use its space station for international cooperation, but its officials have said they are open to collaboration with other countries.

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