Sci-Tech

Construction of Largest Hydropower Station in Tibetan Areas Starts

To tap rich water resources in the countrys southwest， China has commenced building the largest hydropower station in its Tibetan areas to date. With a total investment of RMB 66.4 billion， Lianghekou Hydropower Station， which straddles the Yalong River in Sichuans Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture， has an installed generating capacity of three million kilowatts， and a total reservoir capacity of 10.767 billion cubic meters. The first generator is expected to come into service at the end of 2021， and the entire station to be completed in 2023. The 295-meter-high gravelsoil core-wall rockfill dam is the tallest of its kind in China.

The hydropower station will optimize the structure of power sources in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality， and also improve the ecological environment of the Yangtze Rivers upper reaches and the flood control capacity of its lower reaches.

Chinese Astronauts Win International Awards

Wang Yongzhi， former chief designer of Chinas manned-space project， received the Crystal Helmet Award at the 27th annual congress of the Association of Space Explorers， held in Beijing last September. Chinas first astronaut， Yang Liwei， was awarded the Leonov Medallion， and Wang Yaping， sole female astronaut on the June 2013 Shenzhou-10 space mission， was also honored.

Themed “Cooperation： To Realize Humanitys Space Dream Together，” the sixday event drew 91 astronauts from 18 countries. Participants reviewed international manned aerospace projects and discussed future cooperation and technological development. The astronauts also visited schools， communities， and enterprises in Beijing， Tianjin， Xian， and Shenzhen， where they met and shared with students， researchers and ordinary Chinese people their space flight experiences. The 28th ASE congress will be held in Sweden.

Beidou Maritime Rescue Navigation System Launched

September 29 saw the launch of the Beidou Maritime Search and Rescue Information System， the second exemplary project which applies Chinas indigenous Beidou Navigation Satellite System to transport and communications.

Some 400，000 Beidou system handsets and other terminal devices are to be distributed among marine vessels. Base stations will be installed on salvage tugs to extend cellphone signals to areas close to them. Salvage tugs will thus be able to pinpoint ships in distress within a 30 kilometer radius.

About 200，000 merchant ships are to be equipped with Beidou terminals， according to Cao Desheng， director of China Transport Telecommunications & Information Center. Related onboard terminals and application system platforms will be developed and put into nationwide use after test runs at certain shipping companies. China is meanwhile carrying out Beidou trial projects in road transport， maritime rescue， inland water transportation， freight logistics， public transport， ocean shipping， and civil aviation traffic control. They are expected to be complete by 2016.

Chinas First Operational Space Lab Clocks up Three Years+

Launched on September 29， 2011， the Tiangong-1， Chinas first space lab module， has been in orbit for more than three years. During this time the lab has docked a total six times， with unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 8 and the manned Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10. It has also completed technical tests in spacecraft assembly control and management， astronaut in-orbit safety， and maintenance.

Experiments involving remote sensing applications， space physics， and earth environment monitoring have produced valuable data that play an important role in surveying terrestrial resources and preventing natural disasters.

The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1， with a length of 10.4 meters and maximum diameter of 3.35 meters， has a 15-cubic-meter space in which three astronauts live and work. It has also acted as Chinas first “space classroom，”Shenzhou-10 astronauts having given lessons to 60 million or more students in China.