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Showing posts with label China space station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China space station. Show all posts

Tuesday 30 May 2023

China’s Shenzhou 16 mission sends its first civilian astronaut into space


 

Shenzhou-16 launch: China sends first civilian astronaut to ...

Among the Shenzhou-16 crew, Gui, a professor at China’s prestigious aeronautics institution Beihang University who pursued his postdoctoral studies in Canada, is the first Chinese civilian to be on a spaceflight.

Highlights of Shenzhou-16 Mission
 
Photo: Zhang Jingyi

Photo: Zhang Jingyi

 

 

For the team lineup, the Shenzhou-16 for the first time includes a payload expert, Gui Haichao, along with flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu that will be led by veteran taikonaut Jing Haipeng, whose trip marks his fourth time in space. Jing will serve as the mission commander.

This is China's first time including a space engineer and a payload specialist as part of a Shenzhou crew. According to China Manned Space Agency, the space engineer's job will mainly focus on ensuring the normal operation of the spacecraft, performing necessary maintenance and inspection of spacecraft systems and equipment, including executing space walks.

While for payload specialist Gui Haichao, who has attracted the most public attention as the only non-career taikonaut to enter space, he will be responsible for managing and operating scientific researches and experimental projects in the space station, focusing mainly on the management and operation of payload.

During their mission, the Shenzhou-16 crew will continue to conduct extravehicular activities and cargo airlock extravehicular tasks, space science experiments, and the trial of new technology. The mission will also include platform management, taikonaut support system tests, and science education activities, the Global Times learned from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

This is the first manned space mission at the space station's application and development phase, and also the first radial rendezvous and docking performed under the T-structure formed by the three modules.

Compared with previous radial docking practices executed by the Shenzhou-13 and Shenzhou-14 spacecraft during the construction stage of the space station, the maneuver for this time will represent a more complex challenge, given the larger combination mass and size, and more intricate aerodynamic effects, the CASC revealed.

Specifically, with the successive joining of more modules and spacecraft including the extra-large Wentian and Mengtian lab modules, as well as manned and cargo spaceships, the space station's size, mass, inertia, and center of gravity have changed significantly, impacting the attitude control of docking vehicles, with some parameters even increasing by orders of magnitude.

Previously when the Shenzhou-14 manned spacecraft docked radially with the space station, it weighed only 47 tons. Now, the Shenzhou-16 will face a 90-ton space station complex with crew onboard.

Therefore, the Shenzhou-16 will use a relative attitude and position control manner, especially for close-range docking. The changes in motion characteristics of the space station will directly affect the spacecraft's rendezvous and docking control process.

As for the launch vehicle, deputy chief designer of the Long March-2F carrier rocket Liu Feng told the Global Times that they have made over 20 technical adjustments to improve rocket performance.

The development team has focused on improving redundancy and equipment advancement to continuously enhance the reliability of the rocket, Liu said, noting that the team has promoted the localization of various electrical system components on the rocket so as to further improve the level of independent control of the product.

The team also used digital and information technology to empower the rocket and introduced "intelligence" into data interpretation.

With the construction of remote measurement and launch support system, developers have achieved real-time communication of test data for the Long March-2F rocket, so that ground control personnel can more easily and comprehensively receive relevant data from the rocket, and carry out real-time monitoring and analysis meanwhile displaying it on the shared screen simultaneously. 

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Tuesday 29 November 2022

Shenzhou-15 crew to visit China Space Station, conduct 1st crew handover in orbit in China’s space history

 
 

 

 

The line-up of three taikonauts for Shenzhou-15 manned spaceflight mission,Zhang Lu,Fei Junlong,and Deng Qingming(from left to right). Photo: VCG

The line-up of three taikonauts for Shenzhou-15 manned spaceflight mission, Zhang Lu, Fei Junlong, and Deng Qingming (from left to right). Photo: VCG

China on Monday unveiled the line-up of three taikonauts for Shenzhou-15 manned spaceflight mission that is set to be launched on Tuesday night. The trio led by mission commander Fei Junlong with two space newcomers Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu are going to conduct a direct handover in orbit with the Shenzhou-14 crew at the China Space Station in construction, which shall mark a first in China's aerospace history. 

The upcoming Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceflight mission is not only the anchor-leg launch mission at the China Space Station construction stage, but also is the first one to embark on the next operational stage, Fei, the 57-year-old veteran taikonaut who visited the space as the mission commander in the China's Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005, remarked at a press conference on Monday at the Jiuquan Satellite Space Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province. 

The crew will carry out more experiments in orbit, operate, maintain and repair relevant equipment and above all execute even more challenging extravehicular activities, or known as spacewalks, with more complicated paths to take on, Fei said on Monday.

The Shenzhou-15 crew has undergone great amount of specific training, which made them very confident to deliver all the set goals and to successfully complete their space run, Fei said. 

Deng Qingming, 56, is among the first batch of taikonauts trained in China that includes the country's first astronaut Yang Liwei and also his mission commander Fei in the Shenzhou-15 mission. He has served as a backup for nearly 25 years, in missions such as the Shenzhou-9 and 10, but never got the chance to fly. This will be his first time ever in space. 

Zhang Lu, 46, also a new face, was selected in the second batch of taikonauts trained in China in 2010. 

Mission insiders told the Global Times on Monday that the two crews of six taikonauts will carry out the space station handover in a face-to-face manner for the first time in the country's manned space history and that is not only of symbolic significance but also carries great practical values to the overall development of the country's first permanent space outpost.

Sources with China's astronaut training system, told the Global Times on Monday that such feat would enable the predecessor Shenzhou-14 to introduce and share what their work and life would be like inside the space station with the new Shenzhou-15 crew directly, boosting the continuity and efficiency of the handover.

It would also help save the resources to set the space station combo from occupied state to unoccupied one and then back again. And the handover will be more target-oriented, especially for those ongoing experiments and space station maintenance work, the sources said. 

Having six taikonauts simultaneously onboard the China Space Station in construction, would also verify its performance under the full load condition, which would lay groundwork for future tasks where more payload technicians are needed for more complicated experiments, Song Zhongping, a space watcher and TV commentator, told the Global Times.   

By plan, the handover will last for a week or so, and after that, Shenzhou-14 crew will return to the Dongfeng landing site on Earth. 

As the temperature drops to somewhere near minus 20 C in Jiuquan around this time of the year, the launch of Shenzhou-15, which is via a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan center, also faces a special challenge of extremely low temperature.

According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the developer of the Long March-2F rocket, Shenzhou spacecraft had only been launched twice in unscrewed condition during the Shenzhou-1 and 4 missions in late November. Shenzhou-15 would be first one to be carried out with taikonauts onboard in the cold weather. 

However, the CALT explained that they have taken such unique challenge into consideration. They have also confirmed the two sets of the temperature system inside the rocket's nose cone, to make sure that the temperature of the propellant of the return and propelling module meets the launch condition. 

Major tasks of Shenzhou-15 mission

Major tasks of Shenzhou-15 mission

To-do list 

At a press briefing on Monday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Ji Qiming, assistant to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) director, said that Shenzhou-15 is the final launch during the construction phase of China Space Station, as well as the opening of the application phase of the station. 

They will stay in space for six months and return to the ground in May next year. The main objectives of the mission include verifying the space station's ability to support crew rotation and achieving the first in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou-14 members. 

According to the mission plan, the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft will conduct a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the space station combo at Tianhe core module's front port and then form a new combo of three space crafts and three modules. 

It will be the largest structure of the China Space Station to date with a total mass of nearly 100 tons. 

Major works across the Shenzhou-15 are categorized into six aspects, including the verification of long-term stays in the space station combo, the unlocking, installation and testing of 15 science experiment cabinets and carrying out more than 40 experiments in the fields of space science research and applications, space medicine and space technology, among others. 

They will conduct three to four extravehicular activities during the mission to complete extension pump set and platform equipment onboard the Mengtian lab module. 

The Shenzhou-15 crew will also verify the exiting of cargo airlock cabin and complete six cargo exiting tasks in cooperation with the ground. They will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-6 cargo craft and Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship. They will also have a work handover with the Shenzhou-16 crew in orbit.

Open for cooperation

After Mengtian lab module conducted successful transposition in orbit at 9:32 am on November 3, China Space Station has completed its T-shape basic structure assembly in orbit. China has conducted 11 space launches with perfect success rate within 20 months at the space station construction stage and the China Space Station is set to become operational within 2022.

Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, told the Global Times that the life support system of the China Space Station is one of the most advanced innovations onboard and shows China's space strength. 

Without the home developed life support system, the crew of three taikonauts would need to consume supplies weighing around 8 tons a year. But now it takes only 400 kilograms, as 95 percent of the supplies including oxygen and water, could be obtained with the help of the life support system, Zhou said. 

In addressing international cooperation as it related to the space station, Ji from the CMSA said a number of space science application projects China jointly selected with UNOOSA and ESA are being implemented as planned, and the relevant payloads will begin to enter the Chinese space station next year.

"We have always welcomed astronauts from other countries to enter the China Space Station to conduct experiments. We have received requests from several countries to send astronauts to participate in our space station missions, and we are coordinating with relevant parties and actively preparing for the training of foreign astronauts," Ji said.

On November 1, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, responded to media inquiries upon the successful docking of Mengtian space lab, the third and final part of China Space Station's three-module structure earlier that day, by saying that China always relies on its own capabilities in its manned space program, and at the same time actively engages the world. 

China's Space Station is the first of its kind to be open to all UN member states. So far a number of science experiment projects from 17 countries including Switzerland, Poland, Germany and Italy have been included in the selected projects of China Space Station, Zhao said. 

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Saturday 28 December 2019

China's largest carrier rocket Long March-5 makes new flight; BDS-3 satellite system (GPS) to complete before June 2020, Space Station operational in 2022

https://youtu.be/BEx6oQhx6Sc

VideoFromSpace 838K subscribers A Chinese Long March 5 Y3 rocket launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Cente in south China on Dec. 27, 2019. It was carrying the Shijian-20 communications satellite. --Full Story: https://www.space.com/china-long-marc... Credit: China Central Television - CCTV

The Long March 5 is an essential booster for China's space ambitions. The heavy-lift booster will be the one to launch China's space station modules as well as a  Mars lander in 2020 and the Chang'e 5 moon sample-return mission.

China is also expected to use a version of the Long March 5, called the Long March 5B, to launch  a new crewed spacecraf — the successor to its current Shenzhou crew capsule.

The rocket stands 184 feet (56 meters) tall and weighs nearly 2 million lbs. (867,000 kilograms) at liftoff. It is capable of carrying payloads of up to 55,000 lbs. (25,000 kilograms) into low Earth orbit. It can haul up 31,000 lbs. (14,000 kg) to a higher geostationary transfer orbit.
https://www.space.com/china-long-march-5-rocket-2019-launch-success.html

China launches its largest carrier rocket Long March-5 Y3

https://youtu.be/Lc-RfXjERqg
The Long March-5 rocket, China's largest carrier rocket, was successfully launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province on Friday night.

The rocket lifted off at 8:45 p.m. Beijing time, carrying the Shijian-20 technological experiment satellite weighing over eight tonnes, the heaviest and most advanced communications satellite in the country.

About 2,220 seconds later, the satellite was sent into its planned orbit and the launch mission was declared a success.

Long March-5 Y3 launches Shijian-20


https://youtu.be/M_Vu60EavR8

China's largest carrier rocket Long March-5 makes new flight


China launched the third Long March-5, the largest carrier rocket of the country, from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province on Friday evening.

The rocket, coded as Long March-5 Y3, blasted off from the coastal launch center at 8:45 p.m. (Beijing time), carrying the Shijian-20 technological experiment satellite weighing over eight tonnes, the heaviest and most advanced communications satellite of the country.

About 2,220 seconds later, the satellite was sent into its planned orbit.

Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), declared the launch a success.

The success of the flight lays the foundation for a series of future space projects for the country including exploring Mars, returning moon samples and constructing its own space station, Wu said.

The Shijian-20 satellite will be used to test the key technologies of the DFH-5 platform, China's new-generation large satellite platform, and offer communication and broadcasting service, Wu said.

The Long March-5 is a large, two-stage rocket, capable of carrying a payload of 25 tonnes, equivalent to the weight of 16 cars, to low Earth orbit, 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit, eight tonnes to Earth-Moon transfer orbit, or five tonnes to Earth-Mars transfer orbit, over twice the capacity of the current main Long March series rockets. Combined with an upper stage, the rocket is capable of sending probes to explore Jupiter and other planets in the solar system, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

The Long March-5 made its maiden flight on Nov. 3, 2016 from Wenchang. However, the second large rocket, Long March-5 Y2, suffered a failure, as a malfunction happened less than six minutes after its liftoff on July 2, 2017.

The research team has found that the failure was caused by a problem in the engine of the first core stage of the rocket. "We have made improvements to the design, materials and technologies of the engine," said Li Dong, chief designer of the Long March-5 rocket from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) under the CASC.

Compared with the Long March-5 Y2, the new rocket has more than 200 technological improvements, said Yang Hujun, deputy chief designer of the rocket.

The modified engine has undergone more than 10 ground tests lasting over 3,000 seconds in total.

"Over the past two years, the research team has solved the problem of the engine and improved the reliability of the rocket," said Wang Jue, chief commander of the research team.

The carrying capacity of the Long March-5 rocket equals that of other mainstream large-scale rockets in the global industry, greatly improving China's ability to launch spacecraft and laying the foundation for developing new-generation carrier rockets and heavy-lift launch vehicles, said Wang Xiaojun, head of the CALT.

The rocket is about 57 meters long, equivalent to the height of a 20-story building, with a 5-meter diameter core stage and four 3.35-meter diameter boosters. The Long March-5 is much larger than China's previous carrier rockets. It has a takeoff weight of about 870 tonnes and a thrust of over 1,000 tonnes.

The four boosters, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the CASC, shoulder over 90 percent of the takeoff thrust.

The rocket uses environmentally friendly fuel, including kerosene, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, rather than highly toxic propellants.

It is equipped with eight liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engines in four strap-on boosters, two liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines in the first stage and two relatively small liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines in the second stage.

The weight of the rocket itself only accounts for about 10 percent of the liftoff weight, and the other 90 percent is the weight of the propellants.

The research team has made efforts to decrease the weight of the rocket in its design. For instance, the thickness of the rocket shell in some parts is only a few millimeters, according to Li Linsheng, a structural strength analysis designer of the rocket.

The temperature of liquid hydrogen is minus 253 degrees centigrade, and the temperature of liquid oxygen is minus 173 degrees centigrade. The maximum temperature of the fuel during combustion in the rocket engine is more than 3,300 degrees centigrade.

China built the Wenchang Space Launch Center, the country's fourth space launch center, for the Long March-5 and other new-generation carrier rockets. The center is located on the coast of the tropical island province of Hainan, which avoids possible damage caused by the falling rocket remnants.

In the center is the country's largest and most advanced launch pad that is 70 meters tall, equivalent to the height of a 24-story building, and covers an area of 600 square meters, the same size as half a basketball court.

China to complete Beidou-3 satellite system BDS (GPS) before June 2020


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20191227 国新办新闻发布会| CCTV LIVE

https://youtu.be/wBrUngeIzT0

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System serves the world

https://youtu.be/EyIQaszZPIo

In this episode of "Come Together," CGTN looks at the self-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) that went global in 2018 and represents another scientific breakthrough for China as the country celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding. Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://goo.gl/lP12gA Download our APP on Apple Store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cctvn... Download our APP on Google Play (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

China's homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is going global

https://youtu.be/yPAiR71rIxs

BeiDou, China’s homegrown navigation satellite system, is to cover the world by 2020. Watch a video to see how it differs from GPS and can help you in life. - China Daily
How Smart is China's answer to GPS?

https://youtu.be/MSJxbbLMyZU

China recently launched another part of the Beidou Satellite System and we wanted to take a look at some of the ways China will use this system. We look at some of the important aspects of this project and how it will benefit Chinese people and everyone around the globe.

China will finish the construction of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3), with another two geostationary orbit satellites to be launched before June 2020, said BDS Spokesperson Ran Chengqi on Friday.

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of China's BDS-3 system providing global service.

Ran said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that with the BDS as the core, a more ubiquitous, integrated and intelligent navigation and timing system with comprehensive national positioning is scheduled to be established by 2035.

China sent 10 BDS satellites into space in 2019. The deployment of the core BDS-3 constellation system has been completed with all of the BDS-3 system's medium earth orbit satellites being networked.

With the system's upgraded intelligent operation and maintenance capabilities, the BDS-3 has provided stable and accurate services, boasting a positioning accuracy of better than five meters.

The BDS system has multiple service capabilities, including satellite-based augmentation, short message communication, ground augmentation as well as international search and rescue. It will provide more diversified services with better performance and higher accuracy in 2020, Ran said.

A series of documents on the BDS system were also released to promote the understanding of the system and facilitate its use. The documents were published on the official website of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System.

The BDS system has seen thriving applications in many areas and has fostered an industrial ecosystem, Ran said.

The 22nm process navigation and positioning chip supporting BDS-3's new signal has a smaller volume, lower power consumption and higher accuracy, and has realized large-scale application.

The new generation of BDS system-related products including high-precision antennas, boards, and broadband radio frequency chips has been developed.

The BDS system has also seen increasing applications in emerging fields such as the industrial Internet and Internet of Things, as well as autonomous driving, parking and logistics.

With the arrival of the 5G commercial era, BDS is accelerating the integration with new technologies such as the next generation of mobile communication, blockchain and artificial intelligence, Ran said.

The BDS system is playing an important role in many industries including transportation, agriculture, forestry and energy. It supports China's dynamic monitoring system for more than 6.5 million vehicles. It will further facilitate railway transportation, inland river shipping, ocean navigation and the management of transportation infrastructure construction, Ran said.

Ran said China is continuously promoting the development of a legal system for satellite navigation.

China's applications for satellite navigation patents have increased rapidly, and the number has reached 70,000, ranking the first in the world.

More BDS-related national standards and special standards will be released to ensure a sound environment for its industrial application, Ran added. - Xinhua

Why China can build its own space station?

https://youtu.be/FMvYUYFRFk4

China Aerospace started from scratch, and by 2019, the country is ushering in a phase of superspace programs: the Chang’e-4 lunar probe was successfully launched, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System began providing global services and the Long March rockets have been launched over 300 times. The emergence of each set of data proves that China, once trailing behind in the global space programs, has now earned its place in the global space-program competition, and is tapping into a new field. Check out this video and have a look at why China can build its own space station.

See China’s Tiangong-2 Space Station Re-Enter Earth’s Atmosphere


https://youtu.be/00_nQvspkL8

China’s Tiangong-2 Space Station re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up over the Pacific Ocean on July 19, 2019. A camera aboard Tiangong-2 captured imagery

Lift-off soon for China’s space station mission


https://youtu.be/qoqA3fcFPQM

China has announced the imminent launch of a mission that will start the process of building a space station by 2022. Making the announcement on February 4, 2019, Chinese space programme officials said astronauts are currently being recruited and trained, with drills and joint tests scheduled for the latter half of 2019. The space station will consist of three modules – a core cabin and two lab modules – and will be able to accommodate three astronauts working simultaneously. China is a relative latecomer to such space programmes since it was not a partner in the International Space Station (ISS), the habitable artificial satellite which was launched into orbit in 1998 and supporting its first long-term residents by November 2000. China has been opening up to international cooperation, however, agreeing with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to develop opportunities for scientists from around the world to carry out research on board the Chinese space station after it is operational in 2022.


China's space station: What you need to know


https://youtu.be/LINmR4wF6Xg

Sunday 26 June 2016

China's new generation carrier rocket blasts off in Wenchang, Hainan province





A Long March-7 carrier rocket lifts off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, south China's Hainan Province, June 25, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua/Li Gang]

Insight: Successful rocket launch gets China one step closer to own space station


WENCHANG, Hainan, June 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday successfully blasted off its new generation carrier rocket Long March-7 from Wenchang space launch center in south China's Hainan province.

In a cloud of white smoke, the rocket ascended against the dark sky, trailing a vast column of flame. Space fans in specially set up viewing areas erupted with applause.

Minutes later, Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, declared the launch a success.

The rocket's payload separated from the rocket 603 seconds after blast-off, and entered an oval orbit with a low point, or perigee, of 200 kilometers, and a high point, or apogee, of 394 kilometers.

The launch is the first by the Wenchang site, and the 230th of China's Long March carrier rocket family.

Its mission is to verify the design and performance of the new carrier rocket, to evaluate mission execution capacity of the Wenchang launch site, and to check coordination and compatibility of project-related systems.

NEW CARRIER

The Long March-7 is a medium-sized, two-stage rocket that can carry up to 13.5 tonnes to low-Earth orbit (LEO).

Earlier reports said the rocket now uses kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel, rather than the highly toxic propellant, making it more environmental friendly and less expensive.

Experts forecast that the 53.1-meter-long, 597-tonne rocket will become the main carrier for China's future space missions.

Its 13.5-tonne LEO payload capacity means it can carry 1.5 times as much as the country's current launch vehicles.

"The more our rockets can lift, the farther we can venture into space," said Ma Zhonghui, chief designer for the rocket.

"Long March-7's successful maiden flight will greatly lift up China's comprehensive space capacity, and give the country a hefty boost in building itself into a space power," he said.

In many senses, the blast-off of the Long March-7 is of key importance to China's space programs, deemed by many a source of surging national pride and a marker of its global stature and technical expertise.

The rocket's payload includes a scaled-down version of "a reentry module of a multi-function spacecraft," said Wu Ping, a deputy director with China's manned space program.

Wu said the 2,600-kg re-entry module is expected to return to Earth on Sunday afternoon, some 20 hours after the Long March-7 launch.

It is expected to land in a desert in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, close to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Data collected from the re-entry experiment will help with future research on a new generation manned spacecraft, Wu said.  

WHAT'S ABOARD

Also onboard the Long March-7 rocket are an "Aolong-1" space debris clearer, two "Tiange" data relay spacecraft, a CubeSat designed to study Earth's gravitational field and space radiation, and a space refueling device that could be used to resupply satellites and space stations to extend their operating life spans.

After being separated from the Long March-7, they will be carried into different orbits onboard an upgraded "space shuttle bus" Yuanzheng-1A, tasked to send these spacecraft in the next 48 hours using its own power system.

Saturday's launch also marks a key step towards China's plan to eventually operate a permanent space station in the final step of the country's three-phase manned space program.

The country launched its first manned spaceflight in 2003, and blasted off its first space lab Tiangong-1 in 2011.

The next and final step will be to assemble and operate a 60-tonne space station around 2022.

To do that, Chinese engineers have planned four space launches within ten months till April next year, of which the Long March-7 mission is the first.

A second mission in late September will put the Tiangong-2 space lab into orbit, and the third one will see the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, which will carry two Taikonauts, dock with Tiangong-2 in October.

In April 2017, the country's first cargo ship Tianzhou-1, which literally means "heavenly vessel," will be sent to dock with Tiangong-2 in the final mission.

NEW LAUNCH SITE

Wenchang will be the main launch site for future space station missions, including the launch of Tianzhou-1.

Completed in 2014, the Wenchang launch site is the the fourth of its kind in China.

Among the other three, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Dessert is currently the nation's only manned spacecraft launch center, while Xichang in southwest China's Sichuan Province is mainly used to launch powerful-thrust rockets and geostationary satellites.

The third, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province, is capable of launching satellites into both medium and low orbits.

Being the closest site to the equator, Wenchang boasts considerable latitudinal advantages - Satellites launched from low latitudes are expected to have a longer service life as a result of the fuel saved by a shorter maneuver from transit to geosynchronous orbit. That extra fuel can later be used to regulate and sustain orbit.

This means rockets launched in Wenchang could will allow their payload to be increased by more than 300 kg, 7.4 percent more than from any of the other three centers.

By Wang Cong, Fu Shuangqi Xinhua

China's New Carrier Rocket to Launch 1st Cargo Spacecraft in 2017


The latest version of China's carrier rocket, the Long March-7, has been successfully launched from the Wenchang launch center in Hainan.

Long March-7 is going to be used mostly to transport cargo to China's future space stations, as well as satellites and other spacecraft.

Saturday's launch marks a key step towards China's plan to eventually operate a permanent space station, which is the final step of China's three-phased manned space program.

The Long March-7 rocket has been designed as a cargo spacecraft, and is set to haul most of the components for China's planned space station.

Wu Ping is deputy director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

"The Long March-7 project began in January 2011 as a baseline model for China's latest generation of medium-sized carrier rockets. According to the plan, the Long March-7 is expected to launch China's first cargo spacecraft in April 2017. During the construction and operation of the space station, the rocket and the cargo spacecraft will serve as a transport system to replenish supplies and propellant for the station."

The 53-meter, 597-ton, liquid-fueled rocket can carry up to 13.5 tons into low-Earth orbit.

Wang Xiaojun, General Director of the Long March-7 Project, says getting the Long March-7 active is critical in meeting the goal of getting a space station running by 2022.

"The Long March-7 carrier rocket uses kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel and a low-temperature pressurization system. Powered by six engines, it has a takeoff thrust of 730 tons and can carry 1.5 times as much as the current launch vehicles, which means a significant step forward in our country's rocket development project."

The Wenchang Satellite Launch Center is the fourth of its kind in China, after the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu, the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan and the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi.

Located on China's southernmost point, the Wenchang center allows better access to geostationary orbit for Chinese satellites.

It will be the main launch site for most future space station missions.

Wang Jingzhong, CPC chief of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, says the Wenchang launch site in Hainan will help relieve a lot of pressure off their facility.

"The center will be used for the launch of geosynchronous satellites, large polar orbiting satellites, low and medium Earth orbit spacecraft, cargo spacecraft, space stations, as well as deep space exploration and other missions. It will also be used during the third phase of China's lunar exploration program and the launch of the Chang'e-5 probe."

Meanwhile, Chinese space officials are suggesting the Long March-5 rocket series is also going to make its debut later this year from the Wenchang facility.

Those rockets are designed for long-range space missions.

It's expected to carry the Chang'e-5 lunar probe into space sometime next year, which will finish China's three-step -- orbiting, landing and return -- moon exploration program.

China will also send its second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 into space this year, as well as launch the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft.

As part of China's space lab program, the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft will carry two astronauts on board to dock with Tiangong-2.

The two astronauts have already been chosen and are currently under intense training. - (CRI Online)

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China will send its second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 into space in mid September, said a senior official with manned space program.
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Saturday 22 June 2013

Taikonauts teach from space

Historic lecture broadcast live to millions of students all over China.

Students gathered in a school in Beijing ask Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping questions as she delivers a lesson from the Tiangong-1 space station  



ABOUT 1,000 Form 4, 5 and 6 students from the Beijing No 2 Middle School were glued to the projection screen in their classrooms to watch the historic lecture broadcast live from space together with millions of pupils and students in China.

Many students from the school could not take their eyes off the 40-minute physics lesson in which three Chinese taikonauts on board the Tiangong-1 orbiter first showed how they meditated airborne and measured their weight using a special scale, designed based on the Newton’s second law of motion, in a gravity-free environment.

Wang Yaping, China’s second female taikonaut and the teacher in charge of the lecture, then demonstrated how a gyro in a high-speed rotation motion could actually maintain the position of its axis in space like that on Earth.

She pushed a static gyro in the air and then spanned another gyro. The static gyro rolled forward but the rotating gyro kept its axis intact.

She noted that the fixed axis concept of the high-speed rotating gyro has been widely used in the aerospace field, saying that a wide range of gyroscopes had been installed in the Tiangong-1 orbiter to measure its flight pattern accurately.

Fifth former Wu Tong said she was especially fascinated with the experiment conducted by Wang to examine the movement of a small ball tied with a string to a holder fixed on a metal plate.

“Previously, we have been taught on the theory and not the practical side of it. It is rather difficult to simulate a vacuum environment.

“In class, our teacher used to tell us that the ball would move in a circular motion (when one pushed it) and would not stop. Today, we finally saw it for ourselves,” she said.

To many students, another highlight of the lecture was the water ball experiment that explained how zero-gravity magnified the surface tension of water.

Wang made a water film on a metal ring by inserting the ring into a water bag. Then she added more water onto the ring to form a thicker water film and eventually a water ball.

The water ball miraculously did not break even when commander of the crew Nie Haisheng used an injection needle to extract the bubbles inside the water ball.

After that, Wang moved closer to the water ball and said: “Look at this water ball. Does it look like an inverted microscope? Through it, you can see my inverted image!” At this moment, the classrooms were filled with thunderous applause.

Wu described the experiment as “magical and ingenious”.

“The experiment was well designed. They also injected gas and coloured liquid into the water ball to show us the increasing surface tension of the water,” she said.

Another fifth former Gu Xu said: “We have just studied this topic on surface tension. It is quite amazing to see how the coloured liquid spread all over the water ball.”

Apart from a total of five experiments, the taikonauts also took questions from four students who were attending the lecture at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University in Beijing.

On the presence of space debris, Wang said they had not spotted any space debris since they entered the orbit but they do exist.

“The number is quite big but the possibility of the debris hitting the spacecraft is rather small. If they do collide with the spacecraft, the consequences could be disastrous.

“That’s why before embarking on our mission, we had conducted an analysis of space debris and taken preventive measures to protect the Tiangong-1 orbiter,” she said.

“Did you see any UFO?” asked a Standard Four pupil amid laughter from the rest of the students.

Wang said that through the spacecraft window they could see the beautiful colours of the Earth, the moon and stars, but no UFO.

Wu said the lecture was very meaningful for her to widen her knowledge of space science.

She said she was proud of the Chinese taikonauts for conducting the nation’s first lecture from space, after other such feats by space exploration powerhouses like the United States and Russia.

Gu said the gravity-free environment in space provided scientists with new ideas and it was important for China to take the lead in exploring space and acquiring its technology.

“The research and development in science has no limits. When we are in command of everything on the land and in the sky and sea, space will be our new frontier,” he said.

MADE IN CHINA BY CHOW HOW BAN

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Thursday 13 June 2013

China's space dream comes true humbly

Ten years after China sent its first man into low earth orbit, three astronauts operating the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft started a journey on a mission which seeks a permanent space station around 2020.



Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the launch site that the crew carry a "space dream" of the Chinese nation and represent the lofty aspirations of the Chinese people to explore space.

The dream, though also dreamt by the more frequent space travelers of Russia and American, includes a manned space station, moon exploration and even deep space odysseys.

The dream is a humble one. China was decades behind Russia and the United States in space technology.

But Chinese pursue it unswervingly in line with a carefully designed three-phase manned space program.

Two years after the space flight operated by China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, two men, including Shenzhou-10 commander Nie Haisheng, orbited the earth in 2005. Then three more in 2008, two of whom finished China's first extra-vehicular activities (EVA).

After the unmanned Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 space module docking in 2011 to test automated space docking, a key skill to assemble a space station, three Chinese astronauts succeeded in operating the docking manually in 2012.

The Shenzhou-10 mission, if successful, marks the end of the first half of the second phase, which means China has completely mastered EVA and space docking skills.

However, just as the female astronaut Wang Yaping said, "we are all students in facing the vast universe."
China's pursuit of its own space dream showcases a latecomer's unremitting interests and desire to learn about the universe.

During the 15-day Shenzhou-10 mission, Wang will hold a class in space educating a group of students from a high school in Beijing through satellite communication.

This in-orbit event, hopefully broadcast live, will inspire students and also spur citizen's space interests in a country with 1.3-billion people, making this an unparalleled popularization of science in human history.

Similar to other space giants, China's space program was carried out by astronauts selected from air force pilots and supported by military resources. But China has reaffirmed that it opposes militarization of the space and will utilize the space in a peaceful way.

After the year 2020, China's future space station will probably be the only one of any kind in service considering the ISS's retirement plan. By then, China's space dream will not only serve its own people but also contribute to space exploration for the human race.

By Xinhua writers Yan Hao, Meng Na and Li Huizi

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Wednesday 12 June 2013

China's space dream crystallized with Shenzhou-10 launch





JIUQUAN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched its fifth manned spacecraft late Tuesday afternoon, sending three astronauts on the country's longest space trip.

With 10 astronauts and six spacecraft launched into space in a decade, China is speeding up on the path of exploration and building a home for Chinese in the galaxy.

At a see-off ceremony held hours before the launch, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended good wishes to the three astronauts.

"The mission's crew members carry a space dream of the Chinese nation, and represent the lofty aspirations of the Chinese people to explore space," said Xi.

The President later watched the launch at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, and shook hands with staff at the center after the successful launch.

Unlike the space trip of Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut who boarded the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft in 2003, of less than a day, the three astronauts will stay for half a month.

In its journey, Shenzhou-10 will dock with the orbiting space lab Tiangong-1 twice, once through automatic operation and the other manual, and a lecture will for the first time be given on board the assembled orbiter to a group of teenage students on the ground.

Compared with the previous nine Shenzhou spacecraft, the Shenzhou-10 is no longer experimental but considered an applicable shuttle system for transporting astronauts and supplies to orbiting modules.

"It is like developing a new type of car. You have to try it on roads of different conditions. Now trials are over and the car can be put into formal operation," said Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program.

On the other hand, the upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket is technically the same as the one used with the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft.

"No alteration means that China's rocket technology is becoming mature," said Jing Muchun, chief designer of the carrier rocket.

This mission aims to further test technologies designed for docking and supporting astronauts' stay in space, as well as to use new technologies related to the construction of a space station, said Wu Ping, China's manned space program spokeswoman, at a press conference on Monday.

The Tiangong-1 space lab has been in orbit for about 620 days, and about three months are left before the designated end of its service.

The module is considered the first step toward China operating a permanent space station around 2020 and making it the world's third country to do so.

The nation is likely to launch a space station before 2016.

There are risks that the conditions of some components on Tiangong-1 might not be at their best since the module is near the end of its service and has gone through four docking tests, Wu said.

For Nie Haisheng, commander of the three-member crew and a second-time space traveler, this mission will be longer, with more experiments to be conducted, than his previous outing in 2006.

"It will be a new challenge with greater risks," Nie told the media on Monday.

However, he is looking forward to entering the space lab module. "My colleagues and I will work in a home for Chinese in space," he said.

For this mission, the manned space program also considered approaching the public.

In a lecture through a live video feed system, female astronaut Wang Yaping will introduce motion in a microgravity environment, surface tension of liquid, and help students understand weight, mass and Newton's Laws.

Wang will also interact with students and teachers on Earth and the lecture will be broadcast live.
Ordinary Chinese, especially science enthusiasts, are excited about the new mission.

"It is a festival for space fans," said Zhao Yang, a researcher with the China Science and Technology Museum, who just watched the Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness on Monday.

He was very much interested in the lecture to be given in space, saying, "There might be an interesting introduction about the weightless condition."

For renowned science fiction novelist Liu Xinci, Tuesday's events reinforced his belief that he will live to see space travel become accessible for all common people.

He has a very vivid vision of future life.

"In the next century, human beings will set foot on all planets in the solar system. People will inhabit the moon and Mars. A lot of people will work in space as space journeys will be as easy as flights."

COMMUNISTS IN SPACE

The three-member crew were all veteran Air Force pilots before being selected as astronauts. Nie is the first general visiting space while his teammate Wang Yaping is China's first space traveler born in the 1980s, a generation growing up in era of reform and opening up.

All of them are members of the Communist Party of China.

Yang Liwei, the country's first astronaut, once told Xinhua that Chinese astronauts might not pray like their foreign counterparts do before they set off on a space mission; however, Communism, as their shared faith, supports them.

"If the country has its own space station, Chinese astronauts, who are Party members, might set up a Party branch up there," Yang said.

Of the crew, 48-year-old Nie is commander of this mission, and responsible for the manual docking operation with the Tiangong-1 target orbiter.

Zhang Xiaoguang, 47, will assist the commander to accomplish the spacecraft's manual docking with Tiangong-1. Another job that Zhang will be doing in space is to film Wang's lecture lecture, which will be broadcast to middle and elementary school students in China.

Wang, 33, is the second Chinese female astronaut after Liu Yang in the Shenzhou-9 mission, which blasted off in June last year. Wang will be responsible for monitoring the conditions of the spacecraft, space experiments, operation of equipment and taking care of fellow crew members.-  Xinhua