A Chinese satellite will examine several phenomena in space for the first time, a news report said Wednesday, according to dpa. The SJ-10 holds equipment to explore the growth of mouse embryos in very low gravity conditions, as well as how coal burns and forms pollutants, Xinhua said. A total of 19 experiments include others on fluid physics and the effect of space radiation on plant and animal DNA, the report said. "All experiments conducted on SJ-10 are completely new ones that have never been done before either at home or abroad," the mission's chief scientist Hu Wenrui was quoted as saying. The SJ-10 was carried into orbit by a Long March 2-D rocket that took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in the early hours of Wednesday, it said. Some of the experiments will be carried out in a recoverable capsule which will be brought back to earth. It is the second of four satellites under an experimental space programme by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
