Rooster Year in Review: 10 achievements in sea, space and earth navigation
By Gao Yun
The Year of the Rooster was a momentous year for China in the field of science and technology. From outer space to deep sea, China broke physical barriers, smashed scientific boundaries and pushed the limits of innovation. It shattered records and set new ones, introduced the world to a handful of firsts and blazed many new trails in numerous fields.
CGTN is going back in time to review some of the major scientific and technological breakthroughs China achieved in 2017.
“Sun Wukong,” or the Monkey King, is a renowned hero in the Chinese classical novel “Journey to the West.” But in 2017, Wukong had a new destination: space – more specifically, about 500 kilometers above the earth.
China's first astronomy satellite set out to unveil the invisible (literally), and study cosmic rays to help with the understanding of the origins of dark matter, a non-luminous material that cannot be directly observed.
Wukong was able to measure high-energy cosmic ray electrons in space, leading Chinese scientists to believe that dark matter might not be as “dark” as it was initially thought, and that it can be observed, which means it could be detected and studied.
China took a step closer to building an unhackable communication network thanks to its first quantum science satellite, also the first of its kind in the world, “Micius,” or “Mozi.”
The satellite, which was launched in 2016, successfully completed its three scientific goals in 2017, mainly to send entangled light particles over longer distances than before; send quantum keys, which are able to encrypt or decrypt data, from space to ground; and teleport particles the other way.
Dubbed the “space courier,” Tianzhou-1, China’s first cargo spacecraft, blasted off on April 20 aboard a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket.
It conducted fast-docking and refueling with Tiangong-2 space lab, making China the third country in the world to master such a technique, and laying a solid foundation for the country’s permanent space station construction by 2022.
After eight and a half years of development, China’s first domestically-built large passenger jet, the C919, successfully completed its maiden flight on May 5. The plane is capable of navigating at a maximum altitude of 12,131 meters, and marks China’s attempt at breaking into a market dominated by the West, especially when it comes to commercial jetliners.
Fuxing began operating on the high-speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai on September 21, travelling at a speed of 350 km/h.
Entirely designed and manufactured in China, Fuxing is the world's fastest commercially-used bullet train, with a top speed of 400 km/h. The train is more environmentally-friendly, boasts a longer lifespan and more comfortable interior than its predecessors, all of which contribute to its prominence.
China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) has identified nine pulsars since its trial operation last September, bringing a wealth of knowledge for the research on the origins of the universe and interplanetary navigation.
Based in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, FAST is the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, capable of detecting intelligent extraterrestrial life in remote galaxies.
China’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier, Type 001A, was launched in Dalian, a coastal city in the northeastern province of Liaoning on April 26.
Type 001A is China's second aircraft carrier, after the Liaoning. Putting the carrier into water marked a big step in China's efforts to design and build a domestic aircraft carrier and a big stride in China’s military transformation.
Blue Whale 2, China’s self-developed ultra-deep-water semi-submersible drilling rig, successfully completed its trial voyage in 2017.
Blue Whale 2 surpassed its predecessor, Blue Whale 1, which successfully extracted combustible ice from the South China Sea, in construction technology. It now ranks first worldwide in its operation depth and drilling depth, and is applicable to 95 percent of deep sea operations worldwide.
China declared its first success in collecting samples of combustible ice in the South China Sea on May 18. A 60-day mining trial there produced over 300,000 cubic meters of gas, and marked a breakthrough in the search for alternative clean energy sources.
One cubic meter of combustible ice is equal to 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas.
China’s deep-sea manned submersible, Jiaolong, was officially commissioned in 2017 and took part in the country’s 38th oceanic scientific expedition, conducting surveys, collecting samples and measuring environmental parameters.
Jiaolong reached its deepest point of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in 2012.
(CGTN's Yu Peng and Fan Yixin also contributed to the story.)