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Shensuo
''Shensuo'' (), formerly ''Interstellar Express'', is a proposed Chinese National Space Administration program designed to explore the heliosphere and interstellar space. The program will feature two or three space probes that were initially planned to be launched in 2024 and follow differing trajectories to encounter Jupiter to assist them out of the Solar System. The first probe, ''IHP-1'', will travel toward the nose of the heliosphere, possibly performing a flyby of 50000 Quaoar on the way, while the second probe, ''IHP-2'', will fly near to the tail, skimming by Neptune and Triton in January 2038. There may be another probe—tentatively ''IHP-3''—which would launch in 2030 to explore to the northern half of the heliosphere. ''IHP-1'' and ''IHP-2'' would be the sixth and seventh spacecraft to leave the Solar System, as well as first non-NASA probes to achieve this status. History The heliosphere and the interstellar medium have so far been explored by only three NASA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf Planet
A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be hydrostatic equilibrium, gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve clearing the neighbourhood, orbital dominance like the eight classical planets of the Solar System. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto, which for decades was regarded as a planet before the "dwarf" concept was adopted in 2006. Dwarf planets are capable of being geologically active, an expectation that was borne out in 2015 by the ''Dawn (spacecraft), Dawn'' mission to and the ''New Horizons'' mission to Pluto. planetary geology, Planetary geologists are therefore particularly interested in them. Astronomers are in general agreement that at least the List of possible dwarf planets#Likeliest dwarf planets, nine largest candidates are dwarf planets – in rough order of diameter, , , , , , , , , and . A considerable uncertainty remains over the tenth largest candidate , which may thus be co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times the mass of Earth. Compared to Uranus, its neighbouring ice giant, Neptune is slightly smaller, but more massive and denser. Being composed primarily of gases and liquids, it has no well-defined solid surface. Neptune orbits the Sun once every 164.8 julian year (astronomy), years at an orbital distance of . It is named after Neptune (mythology), the Roman god of the sea and has the astronomical symbol representing Trident of Poseidon, Neptune's trident. Neptune is not visible to the unaided eye and is the only planet in the Solar System that was not initially observed by direct empirical observation. Rather, unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Bouvard to hypothesise that its orbit was subject to gravitational Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long March 5
Long March 5 (LM-5; zh, s=长征五号 , p=Chángzhēng wǔ hào) or Changzheng 5 (CZ-5), also known by its nickname "''Pang-Wu''" (胖五, "''Fat-Five''"), is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). It is the first Chinese launch vehicle designed to use exclusively non-hypergolic Liquid-propellant rocket, liquid propellants. It is the fifth iteration of the Long March (rocket family), Long March rocket family. There are currently two CZ-5 variants: CZ-5 and CZ-5B. The maximum payload capacities are approximately to low Earth orbit (for CZ-5B) and approximately to geostationary transfer orbit (for CZ-5). The Long March 5 roughly matches the capabilities of American National Security Space Launch, NSSL heavy-lift launch vehicles such as Vulcan Centaur. It is currently the most powerful member of the Long March (rocket family), Long March rocket family and Comparison of orbital launch systems, the world's fifth m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
50000 Quaoar
Quaoar ( minor-planet designation: 50000 Quaoar) is a ringed dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a ring of many icy planetesimals beyond Neptune. It has an elongated ellipsoidal shape with an average diameter of , about half the size of the dwarf planet Pluto, and is a possible dwarf planet. The object was discovered by American astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at the Palomar Observatory on 4 June 2002. Quaoar's surface contains crystalline water ice and ammonia hydrate, which suggests that it might have experienced cryovolcanism. A small amount of methane is present on its surface, which is only retained by the largest Kuiper belt objects. Quaoar has one known moon, Weywot, which was discovered by Brown in February 2007. Both objects were named after mythological figures from the Native American Tongva people in Southern California. Quaoar is the Tongva creator deity and Weywot is his son. In 2023, astronomers announced the discovery of two thin rings orb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triton (moon)
Triton is the largest natural satellite of the planet Neptune. It is the only moon of Neptune massive enough to be list of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System, rounded under its own gravity and hosts a atmosphere of Triton, thin, hazy atmosphere. Triton orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit—revolving in the opposite direction to the parent planet's rotation—the only large moon in the Solar System to do so. Triton is thought to have once been a dwarf planet from the Kuiper belt, gravitational capture, captured into Neptune's orbit by the latter's gravity. At in diameter, Triton is the list of natural satellites#List, seventh-largest moon in the Solar System, the second-largest planetary moon in relation to its primary (after Earth's Moon), and larger than all of the known dwarf planets. The mean density is , reflecting a composition of approximately 30–45% ice, water ice by mass, with the rest being mostly rock and metal. Triton is differentiated, with a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaoar
Quaoar (minor-planet designation: 50000 Quaoar) is a ringed dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a ring of many icy planetesimals beyond Neptune. It has an elongated ellipsoidal shape with an average diameter of , about half the size of the dwarf planet Pluto, and is a possible dwarf planet. The object was discovered by American astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at the Palomar Observatory on 4 June 2002. Quaoar's surface contains crystalline water ice and ammonia hydrate, which suggests that it might have experienced cryovolcanism. A small amount of methane is present on its surface, which is only retained by the largest Kuiper belt objects. Quaoar has one known moon, Weywot, which was discovered by Brown in February 2007. Both objects were named after mythological figures from the Native American Tongva people in Southern California. Quaoar is the Tongva creator deity and Weywot is his son. In 2023, astronomers announced the discovery of two thin rings orbiting Q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triton (moon)
Triton is the largest natural satellite of the planet Neptune. It is the only moon of Neptune massive enough to be list of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System, rounded under its own gravity and hosts a atmosphere of Triton, thin, hazy atmosphere. Triton orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit—revolving in the opposite direction to the parent planet's rotation—the only large moon in the Solar System to do so. Triton is thought to have once been a dwarf planet from the Kuiper belt, gravitational capture, captured into Neptune's orbit by the latter's gravity. At in diameter, Triton is the list of natural satellites#List, seventh-largest moon in the Solar System, the second-largest planetary moon in relation to its primary (after Earth's Moon), and larger than all of the known dwarf planets. The mean density is , reflecting a composition of approximately 30–45% ice, water ice by mass, with the rest being mostly rock and metal. Triton is differentiated, with a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese National Space Administration
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is a government agency of the People's Republic of China headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation. These responsibilities include organizing or leading foreign exchanges and cooperation in the aerospace field. The CNSA is an administrative agency under the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. Founded in 1993, CNSA has pioneered a number of achievements in space for China despite its relatively short history, including becoming the first space agency to land on the far side of the Moon with Chang'e 4, bringing material back from the Moon with Chang'e 5 and 6, and being the second agency who successfully landed a rover on Mars with Tianwen-1. Tianwen-2 is enroute to explore the co-orbital near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and the active asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS and collecting samples of the regolith of Kamo'oalew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators
A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), or radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect. This type of generator has no moving parts and is ideal for deployment in remote and harsh environments for extended periods with no risk of parts wearing out or malfunctioning. RTGs are usually the most desirable power source for unmaintained situations that need a few hundred watts (or less) of power for durations too long for fuel cells, batteries, or generators to provide economically, and in places where solar cells are not practical. RTGs have been used as power sources in satellites, space probes, and uncrewed remote facilities such as a series of lighthouses built by the Soviet Union inside the Arctic Circle. However, the Western Bloc did not use RTGs in this way due to worries about their risk to hum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cosmic Rays
Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own galaxy, and from distant galaxies. Upon impact with Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere, cosmic rays produce air shower (physics), showers of secondary particles, some of which reach the Earth's surface, surface, although the bulk are Deflection (physics), deflected off into space by the Earth's magnetic field, magnetosphere or the heliosphere. Cosmic rays were discovered by Victor Francis Hess, Victor Hess in 1912 in balloon experiments, for which he was awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics. Direct measurement of cosmic rays, especially at lower energies, has been possible since the launch of the first satellites in the late 1950s. Particle detectors similar to those used in nuclear and high-energy physics are u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long March 3B
The Long March 3B (), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on liquid rocket boosters, it is the heaviest variant of the Long March 3 rocket family, and is mainly used to place communications satellites and navigation satellites into geosynchronous orbits. An enhanced version, the Long March 3B/E or G2, was introduced in 2007 to increase the rocket's geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) cargo capacity and lift heavier geosynchronous orbit (GEO) communications satellites. The Long March 3B also served as the basis for the medium-capacity Long March 3C, which was first launched in 2008. , the Long March 3B, 3B/E and 3B/G5 have conducted 105 successful launches, plus 2 failures and 2 partial failures, accumulating a success rate of . It is the first Long March (rocket family), Long March series rocket t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weywot (moon)
Weywot (formal designation (50000) Quaoar I; provisional designation S/2006 (50000) 1) is a natural satellite or moon of the trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Quaoar. It was discovered by Michael Brown and Terry-Ann Suer using images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on 14 February 2006. It is named after the Tongva sky god and son of Quaoar. Weywot is about in diameter and orbits Quaoar every 12.4 days at an average distance of . Weywot is thought to play a role in maintaining Quaoar's outer ring by gravitationally influencing it in an orbital resonance. Discovery Weywot was first imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on 14 February 2006, during Michael Brown's survey for satellites around large trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) using ''Hubble''s high-resolution Advanced Camera for Surveys. Consecutive images from that date showed that Weywot appeared stationary relative to Quaoar and was visibly separated at an angular distance of 0.35 arcseconds. After Brown's Hubble surv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
