Sci-Tech

Chinas Hi-res SAR Imaging Satellite Put into Use

Chinas first high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar （SAR） satellite has passed all its inorbit tests and is now operational， according to the State Administration of Science， Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The Gaofen-3 satellite， which is accurate to within one meter， was launched in August 2016.

Tong Xudong， a senior engineer with the administration， said the satellite covers the globe with an all-weather， 24-hour observation service and will be used for the prevention and reduction of natural disasters， ocean monitoring， and safeguarding maritime rights and interests.

Gaofen-3 is Chinas first loworbit remote sensing satellite to have a long lifespan.

With 12 imaging modes， Gaofen-3 has the largest number of imaging modes in the SAR imaging satellite family. The high-definition observation satellite is capable of switching freely between various imaging modes， taking wide pictures， both of land and bodies of water， and detailed photographs of specific areas.

Gaofen-3s spatial resolution ranges from one meter to 500 meters and its largest viewing swath is 650 km.

According to the administration， the launch of the Gaofen-5 hyerspectrual satellite is set for September 2017.

Chinese Scientists Start 38th Ocean Expedition Trip

Chinese scientists started their 38th ocean scientific expedition on February 6， with the countrys first deep sea manned submersible Jiaolong.

The mother ship， Xiangyanghong 09， left Qingdao in east China carrying the sub and more than 150 personnel for a 124-day trip， the longest Jiaolong has yet undertaken.

The researchers will carry out surveys in the northwest Indian Ocean， the South China Sea， the Yap Trench， and the Mariana Trench in the west Pacific Ocean.

With Jiaolong， more discoveries are expected in the northwest Indian Ocean， said chief scientist Han Xiqiu. The trip will run until June 9.

Named after a mythical dragon， Jiaolong reached its deepest depth of 7，062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012.

Hailong 2， or Sea Dragon 2， and Qianlong 1， both unmanned submersibles， were officially deployed at the National Deep sea Center in Qingdao. Hailong 2， which is linked to the support ship via a wire， can work at a maximum depth of 3，500 meters. In 2009， the homemade underwater robot discovered a deepsea hydrothermal “chimney” vent near the equator in the eastern Pacific. Wireless Qianlong 1 can operate at a depth of 6，000 meters. The three types of subs are all domestically-made and each has its own specialties， according to researchers.

A new mothership for Jiaolong is estimated to be put into use in March 2019. It will be capable of carrying all three sub types， said Yu Hongjun， director of the center.

China to Test Near-space Flight of Solar Drone

China will test the performance of its largest solar drone with a near-space flight this year， according to the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics （CAAA） on February 7.

The Rainbow-series drone， with a wingspan of more than 40 meters， has just passed its first full-scale test flight， according to Shi Wen， chief engineer of the CAAA drone project.

“The drone is the second largest solarpowered drone in the world， second only to a model by NASA，” said Shi， adding that its performance index and technological capacity are among the most advanced in the world.

The drone is capable of sustained flight at an extremely high altitude and its maintenance is easy and simple. According to Shi， the unmanned aerial vehicle will be used mostly for airborne early warning systems， aerial reconnaissance， disaster monitoring， meteorological observation， and communications relay.

The chief engineer said these types of drones can usually ascend to an altitude of 20 to 30 km， and cruise at a speed of 150 to 200 km per hour.

Youngest Chinese-American Tenured at MIT

Thirty-four-year-old scientist Zhang Feng has become a tenured professor at the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT） in the U.S. This breaks the record for the youngest person of Chinese heritage to earn tenure at the school. The late Chinese rocket scientist Qian Xuesen earned tenure at MIT at the age of 35.

Born in Hebei Province in 1982， Zhang moved to the U.S. in 1994. He became interested in bioscience during high school and obtained his bachelors degree in chemistry and physics from Harvard College and got a PhD in chemistry from Stanford University.

He joined MIT in 2011 as an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and an assistant professor in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering. In 2013， Zhang and his team were the first to report CRISPR-based gene editing in mammalian cells.

Zhang and his team have continued to make new and better gene-editing tools， and use them to improve human understanding of the nervous system and develop new approaches to the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Zhang Feng was named a runner-up for Time magazines 2016 Person of the Year for his role in the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system.