Whereas that mysterious Chinese language house airplane rolled to full cease on a touchdown strip earlier this month, little is understood in regards to the craft.
It was hurled into orbit on Dec. 14, 2023 atop a Lengthy March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle in northwest China.
The no matter it’s and does spacecraft touched down after 268 days of in-orbit operation, making its landing on Sept. 6, 2024.
Rising maturity
“Its mission was to conduct reusable expertise verification and house science experiments to supply technical assist for the peaceable use of house,” defined the state-run China International Tv Community (CGTN). “This achievement underscores the rising maturity of China’s reusable spacecraft expertise, paving the way in which for extra handy and cost-effective house journey for peaceable functions sooner or later.”
CGTN additionally famous that China had launched reusable experimental spacecraft in September 2020 and August 2022, which respectively spent two days and 276 days in orbit “earlier than returning to their designated touchdown websites.”
Delta-wing design
Whereas the current house airplane flight was underway, house watcher veteran Felix Schöfbänker in Higher Austria took imagery of the craft.
In a current posting, Schöfbänker reported he has imagery taken Aug. 10 of the Chinese language house airplane which exhibits a delta-wing design, captured when the craft turned 180 levels since an earlier commentary he made on July 30.
The darkish spot between the wings may presumably be the cargo bay, Schöfbänker suggests.
In the meantime, nonetheless circling the Earth is the U.S. Area Pressure X-37B. It has been on an equally mysterious sojourn since its launch on Dec. 29, 2023. It’s now 267 days into its secretive mission.
