China launched Gaofen-14, an optical satellite, onboard the Long March 3B carrier rocket on Sunday 11:58 am from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in SW China’s Sichuan Province.
Gaofen-14
First ArF photoresist production line
The first ArF photoresist production line by Nanda Optoelectronics has been officially put into production. It is estimated that the annual sales will reach 1 billion yuan after the project is fully operational.
Photoresist 光刻胶 is the core material for the production of integrated circuits, which mainly plays the role of “transferring the designed image from the template to the appropriate position on the wafer surface”. Therefore, the quality and performance of the photoresist have an important impact on the final product and performance of the chip. High-end types such as ArF photoresist almost rely 100% on imports.
The criteria for hypersonic airbreathing propulsion and its experimental verification
It is the first time to verify the oblique detonation engine concept successfully with wind tunnel tests and the standing oblique detonation undergoes the initiation, transition and full-developed stages. The experiments also demonstrated well the criteria proposed in this paper. According to research progresses on oblique detonation engines, the Sodramjet engine is very promising for hypersonic airbreathing propulsion because that the engine system is simple in its structure, efficient in the thermo-cycle, broad in its operation Mach number range and low in aerothermodynamic heating load.
The world’s highest power transmission and transformation project
12-4-20 The world’s highest power transmission and transformation project at over 4,300 meters above sea level became fully operational in Tibet on Fri. This marked the completion of electric power coverage in Tibet and also in the Chinese mainland.
HL-2M device in Chengdu achieved its first plasma discharge
76 photons (quantum bits) of quantum computing prototype
12-4-20 Chinese scientists announced the construction of 76 photons (quantum bits) of quantum computing prototype “Jiuzhang九章”. In terms of speed, the speed of solving the mathematical algorithm Gaussian boson sampling is only 200 seconds, while the current supercomputer will take 600 million years. It is generally accepted that 50 quantum bits is the critical threshold to prove that a quantum computer has the potential to surpass traditional computers. The “九章” is named after a well-known mathematical treatise 九章算术 from ancient China.
The speed is 10 billion times faster than the 53 superconducting bits of quantum computing prototype released by Google last year. This achievement enables China to successfully reach the first milestone in quantum computing research: the superiority of quantum computing (also known abroad as “quantum supremacy”).
Iconic Arecibo Observatory telescope collapses
Chang’e-5 moon success
As of 4:53 am Wednesday, the Chang’e-5 probe’s lander-ascender combination had completed drilling the moon surface and sealed its collected samples.
roscosmos and the European Space Agency esa sent congratulations to China on Chang’e-5’s successful moon landing, after the probe touched down on planned location in Oceanus Procellarum on Tuesday evening.
Cosmochemist and geochemist Ouyang Ziyuan 欧阳自远 from the Chinese Academy of Sciences who is now in charge of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has already stated on many occasions that one of the main goals of the program would be the mining of helium-3, from which operation “each year, three space shuttle missions could bring enough fuel for all human beings across the world.”
The Chang’e-5 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner, was launched on Nov. 24, and its lander-ascender combination touched down on the north of the Mons Rumker in Oceanus Procellarum, also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon on Dec. 1. After the samples were collected and sealed, the ascender of Chang’e-5 took off from the lunar surface on Dec. 3. Next, the orbiter-returner will separate from the ascender, and wait for the right time to return to Earth.
12-8-20 The ascender of China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe carried out deorbiting on Tuesday at 6:59 am and landed on the preset landing area on the moon’s surface at 7:30 am in a controlled manner.
12-16-20 ChangE5 orbiter-returner combo successfully conducted second course correction at the moon-Earth transfer orbit on Wed 9:15 am.
12-17-20 Carrying around 2 kilograms of lunar samples, China’s Change5 lunar probe safely landed in the designated area in North China at 1:59 am on Thursday, bringing the craft’s epic round trip between Earth and Moon.
Chang’e-7 and -8 missions will involve inviting relevant countries and agencies to work together to study the feasibility of building a permanent moon base.
The CNSA and scientists are mulling over launching Chang’e-6 sample return mission during China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25); the landing site could be the lunar south pole or far side of the Earth’s natural satellite.
Hualong One 3rd-generation nuclear power plant
China’s first Hualong One 3rd-generation nuclear power plant in Fuqing, Fujian Province, achieved its first grid connection and power generation early Friday, breaking the foreign technology monopoly.
Chang’e-5 lunar probe mission