On March 15th at 8:15 p.m. Beijing time (March 14th at 8:42 p.m. Edt; 5:42 pm PDT) China started two satellites on a Yuanzheng-1S, which was mounted on a long March 2c rocket. While the first and second stage was successful, a technical start with the upper level prevented the satellites from reaching their intended orbit. This was followed by several months of attempts to rescue when Chinese engineers tried to find a solution that contained the satellites so that they were burned in the atmosphere.
According to a recent history recently layered by CGTN, the satellites were “saved” with a gravitational sling after 123 days. In short, the engineers used the gravity of the earth, the moon and the sun to lead the satellites to their real orbits. Her efforts saved the satellite mission and showed a maneuver that could be a player for the navigation of the low surface. The mission also underlines the comprehensive technology, since the satellites are part of a constellation that could enable autonomous space vehicles that control beyond the earth orbit.
The start -Glitch surprised the teams in the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Use (CSU), which heads the space mission. Shortly afterwards, a team of engineers confirmed the status of the two satellites, which were much closer to the earth than planned and got out of control. The satellites were partially damaged during the failed start, so that they could not absorb enough sunlight to achieve a correction maneuver. Fortunately, the engineers finally found a solution.
Zhang Hao, a CSU researcher whose team led the rescue efforts, said in an interview with CGTN Digital:
“That was the first start mission I saw and I didn't think about it [the] Start a mistake first. If the satellites had been destroyed, it would have been a waste of the years of effort that we invested in the mission and would have invested the money. It would also be a mental blow for the team. Fortunately, this is not the case. We divided ourselves into two teams. A team controls the drives of the satellites from afar to slow down the spinning. The other team, my team, calculated the best route to bring the satellites back on the right track. “
The Dro-A and Dro-B satellites have joined the Dro-L spaceship previously led to the market to form a constellation that offers navigation services for spaceships. According to the CSU -with researcher Mao Xinyuan, these satellites enable the ground controllers to locate a spaceship in three hours. This is a significant reduction in the two to three days it takes to locate spaceships with the current land -based positioning. Mao also claims that the spaceship enables them to control unwritten spaceships and enable autonomous pilots.
These satellites are part of China's plans to increase their presence around the earth and the moon. Adding autonomous pilots will also be useful because China begins to send occupation missions to the moon (planned for 2030) and start payload in order to support the proposed international moon research station (ILRS).
Further reading: CGTN
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