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Viola Zhou

China’s growing demand for scarce land and resources are just two reasons why it is pushing ahead with its space programme.
The Ministry of Land and ­Resources’ new five-year ­programme released last month identified deep space exploration as one of its “three-deep” strategies to help secure the country’s resources needs – the other two being deep-sea and deep-underground exploration.
For scientists reaching for the stars, China offers leg-up – with litmus test
China will have 27 satellites for terrestrial surveying and scientific research by 2020.
The spacecraft will play major roles in land management, ­mineral deposit exploration and disaster relief.
More than 90 per cent of the remote sensing satellites should be domestically produced, the ministry said in the plan.
With the help of the satellites, Beijing will be able to set up a cloud platform for global geographical data, which will provide information support for China’s economic and defence work as well as the “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
A broader space programme also involves exploring the moon and Mars as well as pushing forward China’s manned space projects.

In the underground field, China will be able to mine from 2km beneath the ground and ­detect mineral deposits located at a depth of 3km by 2020. The country will also explore oil and natural gas located at between 6.5km and 10km underground.
The tasks require scientists to make a number of high-tech breakthroughs including high-precision sensors and data-mining software, according to the five-year plan.
To tackle the lack of urban space, geologists will study major cities’ land structure to prepare for the development of an underground world.
Up for the challenge? China to journey to the Mariana Trench
In terms of deep-sea exploration, China will develop a submersible that can dive to 11,000 metres by 2020.
This is slightly more than the deepest known point in the seabed, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana
Trench near Guam. Currently, China’s deep-sea diving record is held by the Jiaolong submersible, which went to a depth of 7km in the Pacific in 2012.
China will also develop the techniques and facilities for extracting gas hydrates, an alternative to liquefied natural gas that are usually found in deep oceans.
Chinese team expects to launch first robot in space by 2020 to fix orbiting satellites
To accomplish the “three-deep” objectives, the government is stepping up measures to ensure a steady supply of technical expertise. The ministry has pledged to increase research funding and support international cooperation to boost technological innovation at home.
China is still catching up with developed countries in its “three-deep” technologies, according to the ministry.
The country still trails the US, Japan and Russia in seabed mining technology. Chinese cities had also failed to utilise most of their underground space, the ministry said.


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Science

Rush for resources drives China’s ‘three-deep’ science quest

Diving technology displayed at the innoTech Expo in Hong Kong. The Jiaolong submersible was among the innovations displayed at the event which ended on Saturday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The latest equipment and submarine was displayed in the Exhibition. The innoTech Expo 2016 will be held from 24, Sept to 1, Oct. at the HKCEC, Wan Chai. The Exhibition are including Latest Chinese technologies space exploration and the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, the precise-positioning of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the Jiaolong submersible with a diving range of 2,000 feet, the world's fastest supercomputer, a potent vaccine against Ebola virus, and an exhibit on the world-renowned China Railway High-speed that has broken train speed records eight times, according to the organizer. 24SEP16

For scientists reaching for the stars, China offers leg-up – with litmus test

China’s Tiangong-2 space lab is launched on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert on September 15. The lab is equipped with 14 space instruments including a cold atomic clock, developed by researchers in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

Astronaut Stephen K. Robinson, STS-114 mission specialist, anchored to a foot restraint on the International Space Station's Canadarm2, participates in the mission's third session of extravehicular activity (EVA) August 3, 2005. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

Visitor are looking at a space uniform in the Innotech Expo. The innoTech Expo 2016 will be held from 24, Sept to 1, Oct. at the HKCEC, Wan Chai. The Exhibition are including Latest Chinese technologies space exploration and the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, the precise-positioning of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the Jiaolong submersible with a diving range of 2,000 feet, the world's fastest supercomputer, a potent vaccine against Ebola virus, and an exhibit on the world-renowned China Railway High-speed that has broken train speed records eight times, according to the organizer. 24SEP16

Chinese astronaut Nie Haisheng waves before stepping out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou-10 spacecraft after it landed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on June 26, 2013. Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Wednesday, touching down after a successful 15-day mission in which they docked with a space laboratory.

(160627) -- JIUQUAN, June 27, 2016 (Xinhua) -- A search team member stands guard by the reentry module in Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, June 26, 2016. The reentry module aboard carrier rocket Long March-7 was successfully recovered on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua) (cxy)

A photo from the Chang'e-3 lunar probe shows China's "Jade Rabbit" rover making an impression on the moon on 23 April, 2016. The nation yesterday observed its inaugural Space Day, with President Xi Jinping (習近平) calling on astrophysicists and engineers to push ahead with innovation. It was 30 years ago that China launched its first satellite.新華社照片，北京，2016年4月23日 嫦娥三號出品：迄今最清晰月面照片展現真實月球 這是月面高分辨率照片。 自2013年12月14日月面軟著陸以來，我國嫦娥三號月球探測器創造了全世界在月工作最長紀錄。嫦娥三號和玉兔月球車拍攝的迄今為止最清晰的月面高分辨率全彩照片不久前首次公佈，讓全世界看到了一個真實的月球，也給全世界科學家研究月球提供了第一手資料。 新華社發（中科院國家天文臺提供）

Up for the challenge? China to journey to the Mariana Trench

The Jialong manned deep sea submersible will join the robotic mission to the bottom of the Challenger Deep. Photo: Xinhua

'Titanic' director James Cameron visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Deepsea Challenger submersible in 2012. Photo: AFP

News

China

Politics

Beijing has made it its mission to go deeper on land and sea or farther into space than was thought possible


Rush for resources drives China’s ‘three-deep’ science quest

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing has made it its mission to go deeper on land and sea or farther into space than was thought possible

Beijing has made it its mission to go deeper on land and sea or farther into space than was thought possible