HKU lectures feature rocket designs, Mars probe

HONG KONG – Two of China's top-level aerospace scientists on Thursday morning shared with Hong Kong students the stories behind the designs of China's Long March rocket series and Tianwen-1 Mars probe.

Long Lehao, chief designer of Long March rocket series, and Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, gave the lectures at the University of Hong Kong.

They are members of a delegation of the nation's top aerospace scientists and engineers who are visiting Hong Kong to give talks at several universities and secondary schools this week.

The Long March series of rockets are space vehicles independently developed by China for carrying satellites and spacecraft. After the successful launch of Dongfanghong-1 in 1970, the country's first man-made satellite, they completed various tasks, including launching the Shenzhou spacecraft series.

On the other hand, the Tianwen-1 project is China's first mission to the red planet, consisting of an orbiter and a rover. With the rover successfully landing on Mars on May 15, 2021, China has become the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on the planet.

On Wednesday, Hu Hao, another key scientist of the national delegation, who is also the chief designer of China's third-phase lunar exploration project, shared the history of Chang-e lunar exploration projects at the university.