Phoenix Satellite Television:

Last October, China successfully sent solar exploration satellite Xihe into space, marking a new era of solar exploration. How has the data feedback from Xihe been, and what does the future of China hold in this field? Thank you.

Zhao Jian:

Thank you for your questions. First of all, I'd like to begin by briefly introducing Xihe—China's first solar exploration science and technology experimental satellite. It was sent successfully into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on Oct. 14, 2021. This significant accomplishment marks China's transition into a new era of solar exploration. General Secretary Xi Jinping referred to the Xihe satellite chasing the Sun in his 2022 New Year Address, bringing the satellite greater attention.

After more than three months of in-orbit tests and experiments, the satellite has completed more than 40 technical verifications and imaged the sun more than 290 times. The satellite platform and loads continue to operate normally and stably, and its functions and performance meet general development requirements. The satellite will continue its in-orbit scientific experiments during the Spring Festival holidays.

A slew of technological and scientific progress achieved by the satellite will be officially released later this year by CNSA, and I'd like to briefly introduce some of the major achievements here:

First, it demonstrated, in orbit, the ultra-high pointing accuracy and stabilizing technology of a new kind of satellite platform with high accuracy. Compared to traditional platforms with equal inertia, the pointing and stabilizing accuracies of Xihe are two-fold. 

Second, it has captured the solar Hα spectral line in orbit, which was the first time the world has seen full-disk images of the Sun in the Hα spectrum. What is the solar Hα spectral line? It occurs when the interaction between photons and hydrogen atoms brings electrons' energy-level transition. As the brightest spectral line responding to the solar eruptions, it can directly reflect the characteristics of solar eruptions. Previously, the solar Hα spectral line could only be detected on Earth, but the data were discontinuous and unstable due to the atmospheric disturbance. Based on the satellite's high-resolution observation and imaging of the sun, scientists can more accurately obtain the temperature and velocity changes in the solar atmosphere during solar eruptions, set up a complete physical mode of energy accumulation, release and transmit from photosphere to corona, and provide key data for studying the dynamic process and the physical mechanism of solar eruptions, which could be expected to become a scientific achievement with international iinfluence.  

With solar exploration satellite Xihe into space, the lunar samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 mission, and Tianwen-1's landing and exploration of Mars, we have formed a deep-space exploration trio in one year, covering the solar system's planets and star and contributing wisdom and strength to constructing our country as a major power in space. Referring to the plan for the future solar system exploration, scientists are conducting demonstration studies, helping us further understand the structure, characteristics, mechanism, and laws of solar system to better forecast the space weather and benefit human beings. Thanks.