Researchers from universities across China are summoning their strengths to carry out in-depth studies on a wide range of technologies in the aerospace field, laying a solid foundation for the country to further explore the vast universe.
In a laboratory of Jilin University in northeast China, researchers were scaling up efforts to develop the vehicles that can run on the moon.
"We are here to test the interaction between the small wheels and lunar soil. Our goal is to make the rover go further and perform better on the surface of the moon," said Zhang Rui, professor at the College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering of Jilin University.
By simulating a variety of natural conditions on Mars, Zhang's colleagues were busy working on the design of rovers.
A string of road conditions that the future rovers may encounter on Mars was simulated.
The four-wheel drive vehicle, developed by those Chinese researchers, can travel on soft Martian soil and cross obstacles over 20 centimeters high.
By resorting to the sensors on the wheels, researchers can accurately analyze the operation of the rover in different environments, which will provide data for the rover's "intelligent brain". The research team has built a simulated test site manually, which looks very similar to the environment on the moon. Researchers dug pits during the day and conducted experiments at night. They need to train the "intelligent brain" of this vehicle in an environment with almost no light.
Research workers have completed rounds of iterations from creating obstacles to digging pits, and from the wheel system to the intelligent system of the whole vehicle.
To make their experiments on Earth more effective, the scientists' first task is to simulate the soil of Mars and moon.
"We are now working on simulated Martian and lunar soil. Through the research, we can provide a stronger foundation for deep space exploration," said Li Xiujuan, senior engineer of the College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
Researchers of this university have made a variety of mineral grains marked with different sizes and regions to simulate the lunar soil, which can play a big role in journeys to space.
"We make the rover or the vehicle carrying the corresponding payload pass through the surface of simulated lunar soil. And we'll make timely adjustments in accordance with its reactions when it encounters rocks or other obstacles, so that we can cope with all the foreseeable difficulties on the moon," said Li.
Through the study of lunar and Martian soil mechanics, the research team has obtained core technologies, which were used in the retrieval of samples by Chang'e-6 from the far side of the moon this June.
Researchers from multiple other universities have also put in arduous efforts to escort each journey to space to complete various formidable tasks.
"This aerospace mask can withstand a temperature ranging from 100 to minus 100 degrees Celsius, allowing our astronauts to feast their eyes in the space," said Liu Chuntai, executive director at the National Engineering Research Center for Rubber Plastic Mould Technology of Zhengzhou University.
The computational polarization 3D imaging camera can capture four 2D intensity images of the target scene from only a single perspective. By using the polarization data that is invisible to the human eye and bringing it into the computational model, more accurate and efficient 3D images can be generated. "This research is to enable our satellites and space station to see farther, more clearly, and more three-dimensionally," said Wang Yue, full-time postdoc at the Institute of Advanced Vision, Hangzhou Institute of Technology of Xi'an University.
Chinese researchers dive into exploration of vast universe
