text | Documentary in movies
edited | Documentary in movies
Preface
Looking to the present, the Russian-Ukrainian war is undoubtedly the focus of the entire international community.
At the end of February this year, the satellite of China and the United States each targeted the Ukrainian civil war zone for real-time snapshots. Unexpectedly, the photos posted once caused heated discussion.
The bright and clear US photos form a sharp contrast with satellite photos and my country's black and white blurred satellite photos.
This makes people sigh: "China's satellite technology is still not good, at least 20 years behind the United States."
Is my country's satellite technology really "not as skilled as humans"? What is the difference between satellites between China and the United States?
1. Satellites used by the United States
Since we want to use the satellite technologies of the two countries to distinguish them, let’s first carefully study the satellites of the United States.
Everything starts with these satellite maps released by the United States.
Satellite photos in the United States mainly come from a local commercial company, whose main business is to lease satellites and provide buyers with satellite monitoring of earth changes.
Although we cannot obtain more information about taking these satellites, some "clues" can still be seen from the photos.
I have to say that the photos taken by American satellites do look "high-end".
The trees, roads, infrastructure and military in the photos can be seen clearly, and the shapes and colors of each location are clearly differentiated, just like a close-up high-definition camera.
This is exactly the effect that optical satellites can present.
American satellite photos
Optical satellite is a type of mainstream remote sensing satellite , and its imaging principle is the same as that of a camera.
The reason why everything has color is because different natural objects have different absorption spectrums of light waves, and the difference in absorption and reflection causes differences in observation results of different objects, which is the so-called color difference.
And optical satellites are like the eyes of the human body. relies on the reflection of light on objects on the surface of the earth to obtain the image , which is why the photos it takes can present bright colors and be clearer.
After reading this, some people may ask, is there no optical satellite of this technology in our country?
is not actually the case, and my country also has optical satellites.
Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. is my country's first remote sensing satellite commercial company.
As early as 2015, the company had independently developed a high-resolution remote sensing satellite "" Jilin-1 " and successfully sent it into space.
In just three years, the number of Jilin No. 1 layouts has reached 10.
In September 2020, during the operation of Jilin-1 satellite , it was suspected that a high-speed flying F22 fighter was photographed.
can be seen that the photos taken by Jilin No. 1 are also colorful, and there is also a distinction between light and dark contrast. The shape of the F22 fighter is also clearly visible.
is captured on the high-speed flight of fighter jets, which undoubtedly shows the "superb skills" of my country's optical satellites.
In April 2021, Japan announced that it would discharge the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
The international community held a heated discussion on Japan's actions and raised a solemn protest against Japan's ideas.
At the same time, Jilin No. 1 quickly transmitted the nuclear wastewater storage tank of the Fukushima nuclear power plant photographed to my country.
From the photos taken by Jilin No. 1 at that time, we can clearly see the layout and location of the wastewater storage tanks in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. The different colors of the wastewater storage tanks are very bright.
It can be said that the imaging effect of my country's commercial Jilin-1 is not much different from that of commercial optical satellites in the United States.
Then there will definitely be readers asking, since our country has such technology, why don’t optical satellites be used to shoot the Russian-Ukrainian war zone?
This refers to one disadvantage of optical satellites.
As mentioned earlier, optical satellites and cameras have the same imaging principles, and the camera also fails.
Optical satellite itself does not have synthetic aperture radar , so it can only take visible light images, multispectral images and infrared images.
This means that optical satellites can only photograph where light arrives.
Just like when we use our cameras to take pictures under the clouds, the imaging effect of optical satellites will be greatly reduced in heavy and foggy weather.
They can't even work at night and therefore can't provide 24/7 photos.
However, the battlefield is a place destined to be filled with smoke. When the war really starts, optical satellites can only stop.
Since the US optical satellites have shortcomings, which satellite is used by our country when shooting the Russian-Ukrainian war zone?
2. Satellite
used in my country can be clearly seen from the satellite photos published in my country. The shooting satellite is called "Maritime Silk Road One".
"Maritime Silk Road One" is the first commercial SAR remote sensing satellite in China. It belongs to the micro satellite and weighs less than 185 kilograms.
"SAR" is the abbreviation of English, that is, synthetic aperture radar. The shooting principle it adopts is different from that of American optical satellites. It adopts active remote sensing imaging method, or it can be said to be beam mode .
American optical satellite imaging mainly relies on the reflection of light , while my country's "Maritime Silk Road" relies on actively sending electromagnetic wave pulses multiple times.
These electromagnetic wave pulses will eject feedback to the monitoring station when they encounter objects on the surface of the earth.
is like a blind man who will actively retract his hand when touching something and tells his brain perception.
monitoring station will receive various electromagnetic pulse feedback.
When the computer carefully processes this information, the image can be formed smoothly.
Simply put, the optical satellites in the United States are like people observing with their eyes, while my country's "Maritime Silk Road One" is like a blind man feeling it with his hands.
It is precisely because SAR remote sensing satellite imaging relies on electromagnetic waves, , and electromagnetic waves do not have the so-called "color" concept , so the photos we see only have black and white colors.
However, compared with optical satellites, "SAR remote sensing satellite" has significant advantages.
electromagnetic wave pulses are not disturbed by cloud smoke, and can observe observed objects in any weather and all day long.
is also precisely because of this advantage that when severe weather and severe natural disaster occur, the ground cannot grasp information in time, and the advantages of SAR remote sensing satellites are naturally revealed.
Now my country's "SAR remote sensing satellite" technology is quite mature and is widely used in natural environment monitoring and disaster relief.
In addition, SAR remote sensing satellites have a wider observation range, and you can even see more details.
The range of electromagnetic waves received by satellites can be divided into four different frequency bands: L, S, C, and X.
where L is the low frequency band, which means that it sees a wider range in this frequency band. As long as it runs normally, it can help people obtain information about the entire earth.
and X is the high frequency band. Although the range you see is not as wide as other segments, you can see the most micro-end details.
This time, my country's "Maritime Silk Road No. 1" uses the C band, which is just in the middle of the band, the monitoring range is moderate, and the details are clear.
So since the advantages of "Maritime Silk Road One" SAR remote sensing satellite are so significant, why are the images presented in black and white, but they still look so blurry, just like old photos from the last century.
. In addition to being unable to color imaging, does it have other fatal shortcomings?
In fact, the presentation of published images cannot be used as a criterion for judging how satellite technology is. The reason why the photos taken by
"Maritime Silk Road One" look blurry is not because its technology is backward and cannot be taken so carefully, but because it is taken too carefully!
As mentioned above, SAR remote sensing satellites cannot directly image.
instead transmits the received electromagnetic wave pulse back to the ground, and processes it by the computer at the detection site, and the final image is presented.
It also has a wide range of monitoring and also has many details, which makes the final imaging of this satellite take a certain amount of time.
After completing the processing, the monitoring station will obtain a huge image sent back by the satellite.
But it should be noted that the photos taken by satellite must be typed and published through media.
media naturally will not place huge images directly on the layout, but will need to process the images to a certain extent.
News media do not have professional processing capabilities. In order to successfully publish news, they have to crop the image and reduce the resolution for processing.
This means that the audience does not see the original image sent back by the "SAR" remote sensing satellite, but photos processed by news media personnel.
This makes these pictures look a little "blurred", and even some places have to be accumulated black together due to pixel compression.
After that, professionals will further professionally process the images and will be released in the later stage. Although the images that are finally presented to the audience are still colorless, the details can be clearly seen.
, for example, the Tonga volcano photos finally released by "Maritime Silk Road One", all the patterns of the volcano are clearly visible.
3. Persistence in the competition
After analyzing the satellites of China and the United States in detail, I believe you have already answered the initial question.
Although my country's satellite technology started late, after decades of catching up and progress, our satellite technology is not lagging behind the United States.
The technology owned by other countries also exists in our country, so we don’t have to underestimate ourselves.
At the same time, my country has been on the firm path of developing new satellites and technological innovation.
Just in April this year, the world's first carbon dioxide laser detection satellite, "Atmosphere 1" , independently developed by my country, has already entered space on the gold medal "space special train".
Before "Atmospheric One" came to work, the international monitoring of global carbon emissions used optical satellite technology, which required sunlight participation throughout the process, which was very passive and troublesome.
and "Atmospheric No. 1" uses active monitoring technology, which is monitored by the loaded lidar .
This undoubtedly means that my country's atmospheric remote sensing technology has achieved leapfrog development, and it is also about the physical health of the people of the world. It is a feat that benefits the country and the people.
Of course, my country launches satellites not only to monitor the environment and atmosphere, but also to make comprehensive preparations to win the future space station .
According to relevant reports, China has intensively launched a large number of reconnaissance satellites in the past few years, and the satellites responsible for the Pacific direction alone have reached an astonishing 260.
These satellites operate around the clock in space, taking everything the US military in the Pacific is a sight.
Our army did not go abroad, so we collected first-hand information from the sky.
In terms of the establishment of satellite reconnaissance stations, the United States has occupied a unique position in the past.
The United States' upper hand in Gulf War and Kosovo War is inseparable from the precise monitoring of space satellites.
However, with the unlimited decline in the US economic situation, the funds that the US can invest in military technology are already seriously insufficient.
The strength of the United States today can no longer support the unlimited growth and technological development of the country's satellite deployment volume.
Relevant U.S. military personnel said that the continuous development of China's satellite technology has made the United States full of concerns.
However, the original intention of the development of our country's military power is to ensure people's security and maintain world peace.
Having a weapon does not necessarily have to draw the sword at all times, but to achieve a balance.
On June 17, 2022, my country's third aircraft carrier, , was officially launched.
The performance of this aircraft carrier has made great progress compared to my country's previous aircraft carriers, and is even infinitely close to the US Ford-class aircraft carrier .
Fujian
The United States has always been full of attention to the development of my country's aircraft carriers, and has also obstructed my country several times in the development of my country's aircraft carriers.
On the day the Fujian aircraft carrier was launched, the US website immediately released satellite photos of the Fujian aircraft carrier.
The photos taken by American satellites are still clear, and even the colorful flags on the aircraft carrier can be seen clearly.
The United States releases satellite photos of my country's aircraft carriers not to help with publicity, but to a direct demonstration in a sense to show its own satellite technology.
So how did China respond to this?
US satellite shot
Soon, Chinese media released images of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier anchored in Norfolk Port, USA.
This photo was taken by the Chinese satellite " Qilu-1 ", which is a commercial radar satellite in my country.
The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was not only photographed clearly by Chinese satellites, but even the deck seams are clearly visible in the photos released by China. It can be seen that my country's satellite technology is not just a false name.
China's reaction was nicknamed "textbook-like return gift" by many netizens. The reason why
, such a wonderful counterattack that can be produced is of course the first thing to do is to use strength as the foundation.
ending
China has never been a country with blind confidence, but a country with modest and enterprising spirit.
We are not afraid of ridicule and criticism, and we can even accept criticism from the outside world generously.
objective criticism can enable our country to conduct self-examination, find out its own shortcomings, and become the direction of efforts to make up for and make progress in the future and a continuous driving force.
people are perfect. There is no absolute perfection in this world, but there is continuous development.
What China needs most in the process of striving forward is the collective self-confidence of the people.
Now there are too many voices outside that are slandering our country and trying to launch an "offensive" with public opinion.
However, as Chinese, we must always be a person with clear eyes and bright hearts.
It is certainly important to make contributions to the country within its capacity, but it is also necessary to have confidence in the country and the nation.
As Chinese, we are not afraid of people's words or gaps. We must be the sparks of stars in the dark, and we must also be the unremitting travelers in the desert.
The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the mission shouldered by every Chinese, and the prosperity and strength of the country require the efforts of every Chinese.
I hope you will work hard and work hard together, and strive to build the future with passion.
