China rescues two satellites stranded on orbit with help of moon's gravity

Nasa Space

China used the moon's gravity as a slingshot to help get a pair of damaged satellites into the correct orbit after the launch failed to do so.

Transcript

00:00China now launches dozens of rockets every year, each one a testament to precision engineering.

00:10But in March 2024, a routine mission went off script.

00:16Though the rockets soar perfectly from the launch pad,

00:19its precious cargo, two satellites named DROA and DROB,

00:25didn't reach their intended orbit.

00:27Tumbling uncontrollably, the satellites were over 100,000 kilometers away from their flooded destination,

00:36in a dangerously low orbit, and almost out of juice.

00:41In other words, they were stuck.

00:44Perhaps other teams would write it off a bust and go back to the drawing board,

00:49but for the team at China's Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, or CSU,

00:55this wasn't just about hardware.

00:58It was years of work, millions investment, and dreams of a crew who refused to give up.

01:07Their first challenge was stabilizing the satellites before they ran out of power completely.

01:14We split into two teams.

01:17One focused on firing thrusters in short bursts to slow the spin.

01:22My team, we had to calculate a new path to orbit.

01:26For two sleepless nights,

01:29Johnstein crunched the numbers,

01:31testing every possible route.

01:34The satellites were too damaged for a direct fix.

01:38They needed a miracle.

01:40And then,

01:41they found it.

01:45With their solar panels damaged,

01:47the satellites couldn't generate enough power for a traditional course correction.

01:52So the engineers turned to nature's oldest of force.

01:57Gravity.

01:58We used the moon's gravity like a slingshot.

02:03When we got close to the moon,

02:04its pull was strongest.

02:06It basically flung our satellite toward the next destination.

02:10Then Earth became another slingshot.

02:12And the sun,

02:13with its enormous mass,

02:15acted like a third slingshot even further away.

02:18That's how we completed the entire orbital transfer.

02:218.6 million kilometers over 123 days.

02:26After four grueling months,

02:29the impossible became reality.

02:32The satellites not only survived,

02:34they reached their target,

02:36a distance retrograde orbit,

02:39or DRO,

02:41a cosmic sweet spot between Earth and the moon.

02:47It's the crossroads to deep space

02:49and a transport hub to even further.

02:54The low Earth orbit is a full of satellites

02:57because of those large constellations.

03:00But the Earth's moon space is about 10,000 times larger.

03:05We see it as a new unknown frontier.

03:09This rescue wasn't just a victory for engineering.

03:12It secured China's next leap into deep space.

03:16The two DRO satellites,

03:17together with the previously launched DRO-L,

03:21form a navigation network

03:23that enables autonomous spacecraft,

03:26turning the DRO into humanity's first space harbor.

03:31You can see it as an autopiloting space.

03:35We only need to specify the destination,

03:38and the spacecraft will automatically find a path to go there,

03:41just like when we use car-hailing apps.

03:45Ultimately, the story isn't just about math,

03:48gravity, or even satellites.

03:50It's about the people who refuse to accept failure,

03:54who turn desperation

03:55into one of the space history's greatest rescues.

03:59Call the comuns to see it as a powdery.

04:06Good night.

04:06All right.

04:07We'll see you next time.

04:09We'll see you next time.

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