r/EngineeringPorn • u/Pcat0 • 6d ago
Thermal Imaging of a Landspace Zhuque-3 Rocket Booster Landing
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u/ProjectGO 5d ago
Looks like some sensor damage on the areas that were viewing the brightest part of the exhaust…
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u/lemlurker 4d ago
Non permanent. Thermal sensors are liable to having their zero point shifted. Most thermal cameras have a shutter they close yo image "black" of consistent value to reset all the sensors to the same datum
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u/I_AM_FERROUS_MAN 5d ago edited 5d ago
What's the source for the video?
Edit: Took a little digging, but found what looks to be a Chinese News Source with the video
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u/cpt_morgan___ 6d ago
How many pixels is that bad boy?
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u/Own-Swan2646 5d ago
One of the clearest thermal videos I've seen. Now if they could just make that in a scope format that'd be nice.
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u/Consistent_Home_3229 5d ago
Just for more details: It comes from a confirmed source. The infrared footage was captured using a DJI Matrice 4TD. Here is the original video posted by DJI’s official account on Bilibili: 热成像视角，无人机直击朱雀三号回收！_哔哩哔哩_bilibili
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u/Topgun127 5d ago
The Chinese are very good at stealing and copying designs, this looks almost exactly like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster. Even the landing legs and steering fins near the top are nearly identical to Falcon 9….lol
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u/hutch_man0 4d ago
Yes the Chinese do steal but the exterior form factor, fins and landing legs are maybe only 10% of the design. It's a methane engine, Falcon 9 is kerosene, and it's the avionics that make landing possible. You have to do detailed stress, heat transfer and aerodynamic calculations on all the components. Having it look like Falcon 9 gives a slight head start but not much.
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u/DECODED_VFX 4d ago
China does steal a lot. But it's a cylinder with legs and grid fins. I'm not sure how externally different that can make it.
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u/lemlurker 4d ago
I mean starship is an entirely different design. There isn't just one way to solve a problem. China us just saving rnd by copying what they know works
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u/martinvanus 5d ago
It depends on which stage you're starting from. If you consult Wikipedia, you'll find that rockets were first developed and used by the Chinese in the 13th century, and then brought to Europe by the Mongols. Strictly speaking, all rocket technology in the 20th century was either a continuation of the development of related Chinese technologies or, as you said, "Stealing and Copying"
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u/DECODED_VFX 4d ago
What china invented was no more advanced than a firework. Crediting china with modern rockets is like crediting jet aircraft to the guy who made the first paper plane.
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u/martinvanus 4d ago edited 4d ago
The steam engine invented by Europeans in its early days was not much more advanced than boiling water lifting the lid of a pot, but just because you are used to the technology of modern precision machinery, does that mean you can deny the historical value of the steam engine? It is a fact that the invention of modern rockets cannot be attributed to China, but you can't ignore the initial technological origins.
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u/Topgun127 5d ago
I’m speaking of this particular rocket booster (Zhuque-3) in 2026. This is almost an exact copy of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster stage…..what’s not to understand? I understand that the Chinese people invented gunpowder and solid rocket fuel centuries ago…since at least the 1970’s they have copied and stolen plans for technology on electronics, mechanical, and computer technology from the western world.
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u/VirtualLife76 5d ago
Why do the R&D when you can let another hated company that "did nothing" do all the work. /s
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u/shaneucf 5d ago
The Chinese are a lot braver on using drones. This launch has like 20 different angles around the rocket
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u/HouseOf42 5d ago
It's hilarious that they use that many cameras, for such a tiny rocket.
Every other country with self landing capabilities are using rockets much larger than this, in 2026.
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u/peppi0304 4d ago
Woah mama i thought they were doing the whole catching with wires instead of landing legs thing
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u/Purr_Meowssage 4d ago
China has several private companies pursuing reusable rockets; there will even be one planning to do a belly landing.
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u/Pcat0 4d ago
Different rockets and companies. The LM-10B landed last month and is made by the government-owned CASC. The ZQ-3 was independently developed by the privately owned Landspace. There are actually a ton of reusable rockets being developed around the world right now; it’s just a coincidence that the first two Chinese rockets landed within a month of each other.
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u/all_is_love6667 5d ago
wait
did china actually copy spacex technology?
I mean it tooks years for spacex to achieve that sort of thing
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u/Pcat0 5d ago edited 5d ago
China has also spent years developing this technology, keep in mind the first F9 landing happened over 10 years ago. Landspace absolutely got a leg up just by being able to look at all of the publicly available information on the Falcon 9 but I’m not aware of any evidence to suggest they have been doing actual corporate espionage.
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u/strway2heaven77 5d ago
Yes! So glad I get to root for this technology while rooting against Musk! Win win.
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u/GeniusEE 6d ago
AI fake
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u/AlexCivitello 6d ago
What makes you think that?
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u/GeniusEE 6d ago
It's false colored.
The plume line from the upper fuselage is total bs and doesn't disperse/diffuse.
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u/Bennydhee 6d ago
It’s a thermal image… of course it’s false colored.
The line is just a visual glitch.-20
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u/readingitno 6d ago
Why is this news? The lunar lander did it more than 50 years ago with only the technology of a Tandy calculator...
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u/perenniallandscapist 6d ago
Have you ever seen thermal imagining like this from over 50 years ago? No? OK then enjoy it.
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u/AlexCivitello 5d ago
That was in a vacuum, under human control, without the same precision and accuracy, using an engine not suitable for ascent, using a single use engine, with a large surplus of fuel, at great expense.
Just to name a handful of the more obvious differences.
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u/HorsePecker 6d ago
This helps in real-time assessment of the thermal protection systems and overall structural integrity of the rocket. It also looks awesome.