PRC Lunar Space Suit - 2024

China Manned Space Agency [CMSA]: Lunar Spacesuit Revealed! (29.9.2024)

According to the CMSA, spacesuits are designed for exposure to the harsh conditions of space, including vacuum, microgravity, radiation, and extreme temperatures, allowing for greater lower body mobility of astronauts to walk, climb, and conduct scientific activities on the moon’s surface. 

Research and development of the spacesuit began in 2020, inspired by traditional Chinese culture.

The red decorative bands on the arms and legs were designed to resemble flowing “Feitian” ribbons — meaning flying deity in traditional Chinese culture. Its combination with the suit symbolizes traditional Chinese philosophy of harmonizing strength and softness. And the leg bands are shaped like the exhaust flames of a rocket, conveying the dynamic energy of space exploration.

China: Seven-Seater Space Craft Being Designed! (10.6.2023)

Roomier than the current three-seater spaceship, the new one will be able to carry more cargo supplies and more crew members, which will contribute to expanding the scale of manned spaceflights and opening up new areas, such as space tourism, said Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China’s manned space program, in an interview.

A new launch vehicle is also under development. According to Zhou, the new manned rocket is designed to have greater liftoff thrusts, reusable components and a larger area for payloads, becoming more cost-efficient than the previous generations.

China Focus: Mars Rover Zhurong Finds Evidence of Water at Red Planet’s Low Latitudes! (1.5.2023)

In the study, researchers estimated the dunes Zhurong found were formed about 400,000 to 1.4 million years ago. The exchange of water vapor between the higher and lower latitudes during this period led to repeated humid environments at low Martian latitudes, followed by the frequent occurrence of salty water when temperatures dropped in the region.

Qin said the discovery provides key proof of liquid water at Martian low latitudes, where surface temperatures are relatively warm and more suitable for life than high latitudes.

It also provides information for the design of future exploration strategies for Mars rovers. As saline water once existed at various latitudes on the surface of Mars, priority should be given to salt-tolerant microbes in future missions searching for extant life on Mars, researchers said in the study.

SpaceX Suffers a “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly”! (21.4.2023)

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, collectively referred to as Starship, represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Starship will be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes, according to SpaceX.

To date, the SpaceX team has completed multiple sub-orbital flight tests of Starship’s upper stage from Starbase, and also conducted numerous tests of the Super Heavy rocket, which include the increasingly complex static fires that led to a full-duration 31 Raptor engine test, according to SpaceX.

NASA awarded SpaceX contracts worth several billions of U.S. dollars to use Starship to ferry American astronauts to the surface of the moon under the space agency’s Artemis program.

NASA has announced plans to use a Starship to put astronauts on the lunar surface in 2025.

Book Review: The ‘Time’ Machine or the ‘Space’ Machine? Christopher Priest Takes the Easy Road!

One is left with the distinct impression that Priest truly believes that if his version HG Wells classics were published in the 1880s – well-bred young men would be masturbating everytime there is mention of Amelia’s exposed ankles- to the back drop of a Martian invasion of Earth and nutty Professors who have convinced themselves that their ‘Time’ machine (which is only secondarily a ‘Space’ machine) is ‘not quite there’ whilst it l supposedly lays shimmering in and out of material existence whilst inhabiting a study in Richmond! Those motoring goggles may well come in handy yet – and not necessarily for motor driving! As Priest penned this tome in 1976 – he was probably influenced by the highly successful British science fiction series of ‘Dr Who’ (that also possessed an advanced machine – the ‘TARDIS’ – which funnily enough could also travel in both ‘time’ and ‘space’) and was reaching its creative peak with the actor – Tom Baker – at the helm! More to the point, the ‘love’ scenes, if we can call them that, seem as if the author quickly threw the two Wells novels together, and then realised his caper was up if he did not attempt to go back and at certain random points in the story literally ‘insert’ obviously ‘out of place’ amorous interactions to act as a type Pythonesque ‘camouflage’ – in the hope that the distraction will draw the attention of the audience away from the fact that the book contains ‘zero’ originality and no genuine labour on his part! If anyone does happen to invent a genuine time machine, perhaps the top of any list might be the necessity to go back to 1976 and hide all the pens in the Priest household – and thus save humanity from a genuine catastrophe!

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