China can die first module for its own space station this month, as the country also prepares to launch a large space telescope within the next few years to connect it into orbit.
The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), which is expected to launch in 2024, will be a space-optical observatory to conduct aerial surveys, according to Chinese scientists. XinhuaThe telescope, sometimes called ‘Xuntian’, which literally translates to ‘measuring the sky’, will have an impressive 6.6 feet (2 meters) lens that is comparable to the Hubble Telescope. However, it boasts a field of view that is 300 times larger than that of the 31-year-old Hubble, while maintaining a similar resolution.
With the wide field of view, the telescope can observe up to 40 percent of the air for ten years using a large 2.5 billion pixel camera.Telescope will orbit the telescope with the Chinese space station around the earth and may man it from time to time with the future outpost.
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“The telescope will be set up in an optical module that can fly independently in orbit for higher space probe efficiency,” said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s human space program. China Central Television said in March.
“In the meantime, we’ll be flying it around in a common orbit with the future space station. This will help us fill in the telescope and perform upgrades in the orbit.[s] for always keeping it at the level of an international border, ‘Jianping added.
This can be a huge benefit for the CSST, as Hubble needs a number missions to repair, upgrade and replace a variety of components and systems.
Meanwhile, four astronomy research centers are being built on the ground across China to work with space telescope data, Xinhua reported last year.
The CSST will detect near ultraviolet and visible light. Striking cosmological and astronomical objectives include the study of the properties of dark matter and dark energy, the large-scale structure of the cosmos and galaxy formation and evolution, according to a 2019 paper of members of the National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The CSST will also be expected to contribute to the detection and survey of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and near-Earth asteroids.
In addition, Chinese astronauts are currently undergoing preparations for the country’s new space station intense training for the first missions to build the future station.
China is preparing for 11 launches during 2021 and 2022, including four crewed missions, for the construction phase of the project. The core module, called “Tianhe, which means “Harmony of the Heaven”, is expected to start in April from Wenchang, based on the previous preparations of Long March 5.
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