Flight Abort Test della capsula e soft splash landing del Lunga Marcia 10.
L’articolo da China in Space.
China’s next-generation crew capsule, Mengzhou (梦舟), has successfully performed its final major test ahead of a debut mission later this year. On February 11th at 11:00 am China Standard Time (03:00 am Universal Coordinated Time), the Long March 10A test booster with the Mengzhou capsule atop it lifted off from Launch Complex 301 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site under the power of five YF-100K engines1. After lifting off and reaching supersonic speeds, Mengzhou’s abort system safely pulled the capsule from the test booster while its engines remained running.
[…] Once past the peak of its trajectory, the test booster deployed its four grid fins to start guiding its unpowered descent. Around the same time, a few YF-100K engines reignited for a pseudo-entry burn in the upper-atmosphere, before continuing unpowered descent toward the South China Sea. Minutes later, the same engines ignited to slow the Long March 10A test booster, then shutting down all but one to safely splashdown, albeit with the boilerplate upper-half2 falling off upon contact with the sea’s surface. A short distance away, the autonomous Long March 10 series booster catching ship ‘Linghangzhe (领航者)’ tested its systems simultaneously for simulated recovery of the test booster.
Video.
Foto da SpaceLens e CNSA/CMSEO.