The will to “reach” the most remote regions of the solar system is expressed on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country to demonstrate the position of a space power.
In a recent statement in China Space News, China announced that it would send a spacecraft into space at 100 astronomical units, which is 100 times the distance from Earth to the Sun or 15 billion kilometers.
The main mission of the ship is to carry out discovery activities and scientific experiments on the edge of the solar system. It will focus on phenomena such as “anomalous cosmic rays” and “hydrogen walls” at the border between the planetary system and interstellar space.
Chinese astronomers are assessing the feasibility of the project and believe it could be deployed in 2049, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
“The Chinese space industry has the potential to achieve this goal,” said Wu Weiren, chief designer of the lunar exploration program. If successful, it will not only confirm the position of China’s space power, but also contribute to new discoveries for humanity.
To date, only two man-made devices have reached the edge of the solar system, NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 duo. They have now flown out of the system and are 22.7 billion and 18.9 billion kilometers from Earth, respectively.
