China continues to take space exploration very seriously in 2020. After the launch of the Tianwen-1 interplanetary mission to Mars several days ago, China plans to continue with other space projects. The world sure needs space exploration as much as possible, especially during these harsh times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
China launched three satellites mounted on a Long March 4B rocket for remote sensing, novel lobster eye x-ray astronomy, as well as for commercial data acquisition.
The launch was successful
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which is the country’s main space contractor, has already confirmed the launch as being successful. The main payload was composed of the Ziyuan-3 (03) remote sensing satellite. This satellite has three 2.5.meter-resolution cameras capable of producing resource survey and monitoring as well as geographic information products.
The seek for dark matter continues
One of the purposes of the new mission of China is to search for dark matter signals within the x-ray energy range. Dark matter represents one of the biggest mysteries for astrophysicists, as it compiles about 85% of the Universe. Being much more widespread than normal matter, dark matter puzzles astronomers for some good reasons. First, because nobody knows exactly what it is made of. Second, because of its tremendous spread.
However, Mars also remains another important part in space exploration for the Chinese astronomers. More and more space agencies are doing their best to study the surface of the Red Planet, as it’s the best candidate from our Solar System that could harbor any life forms. The ultimate goal for many astronomers is to terraform Mars one day, and there’s no wonder why. Earth is not a suitable planet for many people anymore, and extending our dominance to other planets is a ‘must’ if we want to contribute to the survival of the whole human race for the far future.
