中國科學革命
過去數十年間，不同的全球定位系統衛星陸續加入環繞地球軌道的行列，但中國名叫北斗的新型衛星網絡，設計上特別為自動駕駛車輛作出考慮，利用了氫鐘大幅提高其精確度。但這些導航及通訊用的衛星網絡，曝露於太空中時而受太陽噴發出的高能粒子威脅，不免令我們的日常生活倍受太空天氣影響。因此，中國與歐洲太空總署聯手把SMILE 衛星送上地球極地上空的軌道，研究太陽風暴對衛星的潛在影響。另一邊廂，中國由２０００年代初起運作的探月計劃，歷年來已送了各兩顆衛星到月球軌道以及月球地表，當中更包括一輛月球車到月球背面的艾托肯盆地，成為人類航天史上的創舉。中國期望能在這些衛星所收集的月球樣本到手後，開展載人登月任務，正式進入新一輪的宇宙競賽。
Constellations of global positioning system satellites have been orbiting the Earth for decades, but China’s new satellite network called BeiDou, which harnesses atomic hydrogen clocks for extra precision, has been built with the new age of self-driving cars in mind. These networks of satellites for navigation and communication, make our lives increasingly susceptible to space weather; the large outbursts of charged particles which the Sun periodically hurls towards Earth. So China has teamed up with the European Space Agency to mount a mission that will orbit the Earth’s polar regions, to shed light on how such Solar Storms might affect future satellites. China’s Moon exploration program, in operation since the early 2000s, has now placed two satellites in lunar orbit, and two more on the Moon’s surface; including a robotic rover in the ancient Aitken Basin the lunar far side; a first in spaceflight history. A Moon sample return mission is next, and China hopes human explorers could follow. Welcome to a new race for space.
