![]() STScI is home-base for wow-making science programs utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope and will be the science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launching in the mid-2020s. STScI is a multi-mission science operations center for NASA's flagship observatories and a world-class astronomical research center. In the big picture world of expanding the frontiers of space astronomy you need to look no further than the achievements of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. Then we will conduct the joint test with the Xuntian platform and the test at the launch base, before it is launched," Xu told CCTV.Ī T-shaped space station floats above Earth World-class center "After this, we will start the development of the telescope sample, and start the research of the flying parts. Currently, we've completed the development of all subsystems, components, and units, and we are preparing for the test after they are assembled," said Xu Shuyan, chief designer of the Xuntian optical facility and researcher from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "We are still developing the prototype sample. Test and assemblyĭuring its normal observations, the space telescope will fly independently in the same orbit as China's space station, but at a faraway distance. The Xuntian module, a camera with a wide field of view, will take up major observation time. The "first-generation" Xuntian space telescope consists of five observation instruments, including the Xuntian module, the terahertz module, the multichannel imager, the integral field spectrograph and the extrasolar planetary imaging coronagraph. "It's expected to greatly boost the development of astronomy, advance our country's astronomy research to an international leading level and help Chinese astronomers become a leading force in this field." First-generationĪccording to Li Chengyuan of the School of Physics and Astronomy at China's Sun Yat-sen University, the China Space Station Telescope and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are sensitive to a similar wavelength interval.īut Xuntian covers a field of view which is about 5 to 8 times wider than that of Hubble, Li emphasized last year in the journal Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The telescope is also the most advanced in terms of its ability to produce images in the ultraviolet spectrum among all the ongoing telescope research projects in the world, added Zhou. It is a scientific facility that Chinese astronomical community has eagerly anticipated, and a scientific facility representing the state-level high tech in astronomy," Zhou said. "The Xuntian telescope has been the most important scientific project since the launch of our country's space station program. In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the China manned space program, also heralded Xuntian's planned capabilities and contributions. It is designed to temporally dock with the space station for hands-on supply, maintenance and upgrading by Tiangong astronauts, Lin said.Ī cylindrical spacecraft floats above Earth High tech Moreover, this super-scope will stay in the same orbit as the space station for long-term independent flight and observations. "Hubble may see a sheep but the CSST sees thousands, all at the same resolution," Li said. In an interview last year with China's state-run Xinhua news agency, Li Ran, project scientist of the CSST Scientific Data Reduction System, used the analogy of imaging a flock of sheep to point out CSST's capabilities. The field of view is the area of the heavens a telescope can see at one time. However, China's orbiting eye has a field of view more than 300 times larger than Hubble. Field of viewĮxpected to be hurled into Earth orbit next year atop a Long March 5B rocket, Xuntian can obtain high-definition panoramic views of the universe having roughly the same spatial resolution as the Hubble Space Telescope. Xuntian is endowed with a 2.5 billion pixel camera. Lin said that the high-resolution telescope will take deep-field survey observations with an area of 17,500 square degrees, as well as make fine observations of different types of celestial bodies. Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, has stated that the Xuntian in-orbit observatory is expected to make breakthroughs in cosmology, dark matter and dark energy, the Milky Way galaxy and other neighboring galaxies, star formation and evolution and exoplanets. This large orbiting facility is to orbit near China's space station where it can be overhauled from time to time by Chinese spacewalkers. Xuntian is designed to outdo NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
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