Hong Kong-developed Tiangong camera sends first images of the city

A remote-sensing camera developed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has captured its first images of Hong Kong from China’s Tiangong space station. The university published videos and photographs from the MUSICO camera on Thursday, ahead of the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The images show Hong Kong’s landforms and topographic features, as well as surrounding areas.

MUSICO, short for Multi-Spectral Imaging Carbon Observatory, uses four optical sensors to detect carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen and aerosols. HKUST describes it as the world’s first lightweight, high-resolution and high-precision instrument designed to detect point sources of carbon dioxide and methane jointly. The camera has been carrying out scientific missions aboard Tiangong for more than three months and has entered routine scientific operations, the university said.

It has acquired images of more than 450 target regions worldwide and generated 4.3 terabytes of data. Professor Zhang Limin, who jointly led the project, described the images of Hong Kong as a special gift to the city and China. He said the successful deployment demonstrated Hong Kong’s contribution to the country’s space activities.

Professor Su Hui, another project leader, said the team had been excited to receive the first clear images of Hong Kong. Persistent cloud cover and rainy summer weather over Hong Kong and southern China had made high-quality imagery difficult to obtain. The images were captured after weather conditions improved before National Day.

Su said the instrument could contribute to Hong Kong’s role in national and global climate governance. Hong Kong’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, is currently aboard Tiangong as a payload specialist. She and two other astronauts travelled to the station on the Shenzhou-23 mission in May.