China’s first space station is now full in Earth orbit — and on a brand new set of cash.
The Folks’s Financial institution of China on Monday (Jan. 9) issued gold and silver coins (opens in new tab) in celebration of the completion of the nation’s Tiangong space station. The orbital advanced, which was first proposed in 1992, was completed final yr with the addition of two science laboratories to an earlier launched core module.
The 0.1-oz (3 grams) gold commemorative coin (opens in new tab) options the T-shaped Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) on its reverse. The space station is proven with each Shenzhou crew spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo automobiles docked at both finish of the Tianhe (“Harmony of the Heavens”) (opens in new tab) core module.
Associated: The latest news about China’s space program
The engraved rendering additionally captures the massive solar arrays extending from the Wentian and Mengtian laboratory cabin modules and a Chinese language taikonaut sporting a Feitian spacesuit on the finish of the space station’s robotic arm.
The reverse design is accomplished with the emblem of the Chinese language Manned Spaceflight Mission (CMS), the phrases “China Area Station” (in Chinese language) and denomination, 50 yuan (about $7.40 U.S.). The 0.7-inch (18 millimeters) pure gold coin is proscribed to twenty,000 items.
The 1-oz (30 grams) silver coin depicts two taikonauts working exterior of the space station. One of many spacewalkers is mounted to the top of the robotic arm, whereas the opposite is half out of an airlock. Not like the gold coin, the silver commemorative is partially coloured, with the backdrop of space being rendered in luminescent purple, pink, blue and inexperienced colours.
To the left of the extravehicular scene are small representations of the “three-step” improvement technique, or phases, that China’s space program went by to deliver its human spaceflight program to the place it’s now. The three steps proven are the launch of crewed spacecraft, the deployment of single-module laboratories and, lastly, the multi-module space station as it exists today (opens in new tab).
Just like the gold coin, the silver’s reverse additionally shows the CMS brand, “China Area Station” (in Chinese language) and denomination, 10 yuan (about $1.50 U.S.). The 1.5-inch (40 mm) commemorative is proscribed to a most circulation of fifty,000 items.
Each the gold and silver cash share a standard obverse or entrance design that includes the logo of the Folks’s Republic of China, in addition to the nation (China) and yr of problem. (Though the cash are being launched in 2023, they’re dated for 2022, the yr the space station was declared complete (opens in new tab).)
The China Area Station gold and silver commemorative cash have been minted by Shenzhen Guobao Mint Co., Ltd. and will probably be distributed by the China Gold Coin Company. Sale particulars, together with pricing for the 2 cash, are scheduled to be launched on Wednesday (Jan. 11) on the China Gold Coin Network website (opens in new tab).
The Folks’s Financial institution of China final issued an identical set of gold and silver cash in 2021 to mark the success of Tianwen-1 (opens in new tab), China’s first mission to orbit and land on Mars. China additionally celebrated the completion of its space station with a set of 4 postage stamps released by China Post (opens in new tab) on Dec. 25, 2022. The commemoratives, titled “China’s Area Station,” function illustrations of the Lengthy March 5B heavy-lift rocket, icons of various science disciplines, two taikonauts on a spacewalk and the finished space station.
The stamps, that are anticipated to be out there for six months, carry a face worth of 1.20 yuan (about 20 cents U.S.) and are bought as a set for five.40 yuan (about 80 cents U.S.). They’re restricted to eight million units and 1.1 million sheetlets.
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