Taikonauts' mission accomplished, safely back on earth from Chinese home in space

Safety prioritized, inclusiveness stressed in China's manned space missions 

 

Photo:Xinhua

Having extended the record of Chinese Taikonauts' longest stay in space in a single flight mission to 90 days, the Shenzhou-12 mission crew returned to Earth at the designated Dongfeng landing site in the Gobi Desert, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, marking a successful conclusion of the first crewed mission at the country's space station building stage.

The Shenzhou-12 return module has separated from the orbiting module at 12:43 pm on Friday, and was then followed by a smooth separation from the propellant, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Carrying the three taikonauts – mission commander Nie Haisheng, and his fellow crew members Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo – the return capsule touched down at the landing site as of 1:34 pm.


Photo:Xinhua

The homecoming heroes did not have to wait too long before the search and rescue squad with the Dongfeng landing site reached them after their landing.

They were confirmed in good condition after they touched down safely at the Dongfeng landing site.

The whole process was so smooth that Tang Hongbo was seen playing with a pen during the process of returning Earth.

"Real gold fears no fire," Nie Haisheng joked with his fellow crew, citing a Chinese proverb as they re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

It also marked the first time the Dongfeng site has received a returning Shenzhou mission, taking the place of the Siziwang Banner site, the traditional go-to landing site for China's manned space flights.


Photo:Deng Xiaoci/GT

The choice of landing site was based on a number of factors, including climate, topography, returning options, and rescue and search equipment, Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space expert and retired researcher from the China Academy of Space Technology, told the Global Times on Friday.

This return was more difficult than previous missions, Pang noted, as the previous ones all had fixed returning points in orbit, while that of Shenzhou-12, which was attached to the space station, had a changing orbital altitude. What's more, Shenzhou-12 was to return to a different spot from previous times in order to test the search and rescue capabilities of the Dongfeng landing site.

The site is partly surrounded by desert, with a dry desert climate and little rainfall. "As there are mountains and pitted terrain in the area, the search and rescue work was much more challenging," Pang noted.

The safe landing of the return capsule also marked the successful completion of the Shenzhou-12 mission.

"Shenzhou-12 has demonstrated China's capability to perform prolonged human spaceflight missions, including lengthy and challenging operations like extravehicular activities and providing necessary ground support," Andrew Jones, a Finland-based correspondent for space.com and spacenews.com who closely follows China's space industry, told the Global Times.


Photo:Deng Xiaoci/GT

Upcoming missions

China will carry out two more space launches for the building of its own space station this year - the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft via a Long March-7 carrier rocket from Wenchang spaceport in Hainan and another manned flight on a Shenzhou-13 spacecraft via a Long March-2F rocket from Jiuquan center.

An official update by the CMSA on Thursday said that the combo of Tianzhou-3 and Long March 7 Y4 rocket has rolled out to the launch pad in Wenchang and will take off at a suitable time. The Tianzhou-3 mission will be the second supply shipping mission to the Tianhe core module following the first by the Tianzhou-2 on May 29.

Following the Tianzhou-3 mission, the Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft is expected to send another crew of three taikonauts to China's space station complex, which may include the first female taikonaut in the space station building stage. They will live and work in orbit for an even longer stay of six months.

Wang Yaping, who beamed down live from space to 330 elementary and middle school students in Beijing when she was in space onboard the nation's Tiangong-1 space lab module in 2013 and served as the back-up astronaut for the Shenzhou-12 crew, is widely believed to be among the most likely candidates for the mission.

According to mission insiders, the Shenzhou-13 manned space mission will also conduct an R-Bar, also known as vertical docking, with the space station complex, a first at the space station building stage.

Yao Yuanfu, the chief designer of the rendezvous and docking microwave radar system onboard the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview that the spacecraft will face a much more complicated electromagnetic environment than the Shenzhou-12 in its docking mission, as by then the space station complex will have more spacecraft docked than it did before Shenzhou-12's docking and the new docking direction adds to the complexity of the mission.

The institute's radar project has participated in China's heavyweight space programs such as the Chang'e lunar probe as well as Tianwen-1 Mars exploration, and the success of the missions have been a source of confidence for Yao and his team for the Shenzhou-13's successful docking down the road.

The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft also pulled off a vertical docking experiment shortly after separating from the Tianhe core module on Thursday to verify the capability.

Although there has been no official announcement, Shenzhou-13 is expected to be launched in a few weeks given that the Tianhe core cabin cannot be left unattended for a long time, observers noted.

Open, inclusive

Space agencies around the world have put more faith in China becoming a strong space power and they hope to collaborate with China on the space station in terms of manned spaceflights and scientific experimental loads, as the space station may be the only operational one in orbit if the International Space Station (ISS) retires after 2024.

“The construction of the space station is a complex and intensive project. Its completion would be a demonstration of China's ability to execute complex, long-term space projects. It will also bring opportunities for science and international collaboration,” Jones commented, “while also posing challenges to some space agencies in terms of determining their priorities and resources for space activities.”

China has been engaged in exchange and cooperation with international space agencies including Russia's Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA), which played a positive role in the construction of China's space station. "We are willing to work with any space institutes that are peace-loving and devoted to the peaceful use of space," said Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency.

Hao also disclosed that "there will be foreign astronauts participating in China's manned space flights, and working and staying in China's space station."

"Many of them have been learning Chinese for this purpose. And China will carry out work to select foreign astronauts for joint flight missions as our construction of the space station proceeds," he said.

Compared to the US-dominated ISS, which has been more of a party of powers, China's space station will be more inclusive in getting developing countries involved, and will provide a platform for anyone on the basis of equality, win-win cooperation and mutual respect, space observers noted.

The first batch of a total of nine international scientific experiments from 17 countries and 23 research bodies have been selected to be carried onboard China’s space station, which is expected to be operational by 2022. The first batch includes Gamma-ray burst polarimetry jointly proposed by Switzerland, Poland, Germany and China and a spectroscopic investigation of nebular gas by India and Russia.

 

Mission review of Taikonauts' 3-month space life Graphic: Wu Tiantong/GT

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China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 boosts space dream

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China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, was launched successfully at 7:41 pm Beijing Time Thursday, a crucial step for the country to build a space station by approximately 2022.

Lifted by a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket, Tianzhou-1 roared into space from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province on Thursday evening.

The cargo ship will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab, provide fuel and other supplies, and conduct space experiments before falling back to Earth. The launch of Tianzhou-1 was a "zero-window" mission, which means it had to be launched at precisely 7:41:28 pm, with no room for error, China Central Television reported.

The cargo ship is 10.6 meters long and has a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters. Its maximum takeoff weight is 13.5 tons, allowing it to carry over 6 tons of supplies. Tianzhou-1 is larger and heavier than Tiangong-2, which is 10.4 meters in length and has a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, weighing 8.6 tons, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Tianzhou-1's cargo usually includes space food, medicine, water and so on, for three people's use for 30 days, but this time it is a unmanned flight, so we put simulated cargo that weighs the same in the spacecraft," Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of China's manned space project astronaut system, told the Global Times.

The biggest challenge of this mission is that new spacecraft, new rockets and the new launch site need to match each other, Xu said. When Tianzhou-1 completes its mission, it will make an automatic destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

"This shows that China's environmental awareness of space has improved, and this is a good attempt to reduce space junk. Tianzhou-1 will fall into the South Pacific under our control when its mission ends," Xu said.

Advanced technology

Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the cargo ship, told Xinhua that the cargo aboard the spacecraft weighs almost the same as the ship, exceeding the load capacity of Russian cargo ships in active service. If the Tianzhou-1 mission is successful, China will become the third country besides Russia and the US to master the technique of refueling in space.

"In general, Tianzhou-1's technology is definitely in the first-class around the globe, at the same stage as Russia and the US. Although Europe and Japan also have their own cargo spacecraft and their payload capacity is bigger than Tianzhou-1, they heavily rely on US and Russian technological support in various aspects," Song Zhongping, a military expert who served in the Second Artillery Corps (now known as the PLA Rocket Force), told the Global Times on Thursday.

From launch to automatic destruction, China's Tianzhou-1 doesn't need to rely on any other country's facilities or technology, and compared to the US' Cygnus and Dragon, its payload capacity is bigger and technologically more reliable and advanced in general, Song said.

Space ambition

China aims to build a permanent space station that is expected to orbit for at least 10 years, and the maiden voyage of the cargo ship is important as it will be a courier to help maintain the space station. Without a cargo transportation system, the station would run out of power and basic necessities, causing it to fall back to Earth before the designated time, Xinhua reported.

Currently, the only space station is the International Space Station (ISS), which was mainly pushed by the US and Russia and was launched in 1998. It should reach the end of its mission in 2020, but the US and Russia might decide to extend its lifetime a little bit, Song said.

According to previous reports in the Global Times, in order to prevent China from sharing in advanced space technology, the US always refused any attempt from China to join the ISS program, despite efforts China made in 2000.

"But we are going to have our own space station very soon. After 2020, China's Tiangong will very likely become the only space station in service, and will provide services to more developing countries so more countries can benefit from humanity's achievements in space technology," Song said.

 Source: By Liu Yang in Wenchang and Yang Sheng in Beijing Source:Global Times Published: 2017/4/21 0:08:39

First cargo spacecraft boosts China's space dream

https://youtu.be/wjNT1p6Ayu8

WENCHANG, Hainan, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China has taken another step toward its goal of putting a space station into orbit around 2022, by sending its first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space on Thursday evening.

Atop a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket, Tianzhou-1 rose into the air from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province at 7:41 p.m.

China declared the launch a success after it entered designated orbit minutes later.

The cargo ship will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab where two Chinese astronauts spent 30 days in the country's longest-ever manned space mission, provide fuel and other supplies to the latter, as well as conduct space experiments before falling back to Earth.

If the Tianzhou-1 mission is successful, China will become the third country besides Russia and the United States to master the technique of refueling in space.

China aims to build a permanent space station that is expected to orbit for at least 10 years, and the debut of the cargo ship is important as it acts as a courier to help maintain the space station.

Without a cargo transportation system, the station would run out of power and basic necessities, causing it to return to Earth before the designated time.

"The Tianzhou-1 mission includes the breakthrough of in-orbit refueling and other key technology needed to build a space station, laying a foundation for future space station operations," said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the cargo ship.

THREE DOCKINGS

Measuring 10.6 meters long and boasting a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, the Tianzhou-1 cargo ship has a maximum takeoff weight of 13.5 tonnes, and could carry over 6 tonnes of supplies.

Tianzhou-1 is larger and heavier than Tiangong-2, which is 10.4 meters in length and has a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, weighing 8.6 tonnes.

Bai said that supplies loaded on the cargo spacecraft are nearly as heavy as the ship's own weight, exceeding the loading capacity of Russian cargo ships in active service.

Tianzhou-1 will dock with Tiangong-2 three times, said Bai. After the first docking, aerospace engineers will test the controlling ability of the cargo spacecraft over the two spacecraft.

The second docking will be conducted from a different direction, which aims to test the ability of the cargo ship to dock with the space station from different directions.

In the last docking, Tianzhou-1 will use fast-docking technology. Previously, it took China about two days to dock, while fast docking will take about six hours, according to Bai.

Refueling is conducted during docking, a process that is much more complicated than refueling vehicles on land.

The refueling procedure will take 29 steps and last for several days each time.

This means the Tianzhou-1 will stay in space for about six months. It will fall into a designated sea area after fulfilling its tasks.

SUPPORTING SPACE STATION

Space cargo ships play a crucial role in the maintenance of a space station.

Cargo ships can send all kinds of supplies to the space station which can be an experiment field for developing technology in space.

Huang Weifen, a deputy chief designer of the Astronaut Center of China, said that supplies carried by Tianzhou-1 include goods that will meet the basic living and working needs of three astronauts for 30 days in space, including drinking water, oxygen bottles and nitrogen bottles.

Also onboard include facilities for microorganism tests, and sensors are installed to obtain data such as mechanics and temperature for the future design of the space suit outside a spacecraft.

"We hope to gather relevant data through this mission and accumulate experience for sending material for the future space station," she said.

VISION OF SPACE POWER

Although China has achieved many giant steps in space exploration, the country's space odyssey is far from over as it eyes building its own space station and far beyond that: landing on Mars.

In 1992, the central authority approved a three-step manned space program.

The first step, to send an astronaut into space and return safely, was fulfilled by Yang Liwei in Shenzhou-5 mission in 2013.

The second step was developing advanced space flight techniques and technologies including extra-vehicular activity and orbital docking.

The final step will be able to operate a permanent manned space station.

Chinese scientists said they plan to launch a core module of the country's first space station around 2018, followed by two experiment modules.

The station in the primary stage will be composed of three modules: core module, experiment module I and experiment module II. Each module will weigh more than 20 tonnes and together the three will be structured in the shape of T. The core module will be in the middle with an experiment module on each side.

During its operation, the space station could be linked to one additional cargo ship and two manned spacecraft at one time, and the maximum weight of the whole assembly could reach up to 90 tonnes.

Based on such design, scientists will keep updating capsules in accordance with scientific research and extend their abilities.

With the International Space Station set to retire in 2024, the Chinese space station will offer a promising alternative, and China will be the only country with a permanent space station.

So far, China has successfully launched 11 Shenzhou series spacecraft, including six manned spacecraft that lifted 11 astronauts into space.

The country strives to realize the third step of its lunar program in 2017: sending Chang'e-5 lunar probe onto the moon which will return with samples.

Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-20 21:17:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Graphics shows the launch procedure of China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 on April 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Ma Yan)

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World's first Quantum communication satellite to be launched in China against hackers

China is poised to become the first country to send encoded information from space that cannot be hacked. Scientists are making final adjustments to China’s first quantum communication satellite. The project chief describes it as a revolution in communications.

China will launch its first experimental quantum communication satellite in July, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

BEIJING, May 28, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Deputy chief engineer Zhou Yilin (3rd L) discusses with other technicians beside the quantum satellite at Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Shanghai, east China, May 25, 2016. China plans to launch the world's first quantum satellite that can achieve secure communication in July. The satellite is dedicated to quantum science experiments. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

China is poised to become the first country to send encoded information from space that cannot be hacked. Scientists are making final adjustments to China’s first quantum communication satellite. The project chief describes it as a revolution in communications.

A quantum photon cannot be separated or duplicated, which means if someone tried to decode information, the encryption would change, and the receiver would know that his letter was opened by someone.

Scientists hope the new technology will protect China from future cyber issues. In 2015, cases involving information technology in China rose by more than 120 percent, according to survey by a non-profit cybersecurity institution. China plans to use its quantum satellite system to cover the planet by 2030.

On the ground, China is also building its own quantum information sharing network for use in national defense and security. At some point, China plans to connect the ground network to the quantum satellite system.

It has taken five years for Chinese scientists to develop and manufacture the first quantum satellite. In June, it will be transported to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in southwest China for final preparation and launch in July., 2016

China wins space race to launch world's first 'quantum communication' satellite in fight against hackers

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China space station will be completed by 2020, the super "eye" to speed up space rendezvous

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China announces its second space laboratory, the 'TIANGONG 2,' will blast off into orbit later this autumn, but that's not it! Shortly afterwards, a manned spacecraft will also be sent to dock with the lab with two astronauts set to stay longer in space than any of their predecessors.

China is pressing ahead its ultimate space goal. Tiangong-2, or "Heavenly Palace-2," will be the country's second space lab to be deployed above earth.

"Tiangong-2 will launch in the third quarter of this year. It will carry out various space scientific and application experiments," said Wu Ping, Deputy Director of China Manned Space Program Office.

If the launch is successful, the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft will follow shortly carrying 2 astronauts, who'll spend 30 days in orbit- a new record for China.

China aims to build own space station by 2020

But that's only part of the bigger picture. China's greater goal is to build its very own space station by 20-20 and it looks to be on course, to do just this.

"It takes numerous launches and docks to finish the ultimate goal. We will organize a series of missions from the middle of this year to the first half of next year," said Wu.

Tiangong-2 is a prototype for a space station. Its predecessor Tiangong-1 has been in orbit for nearly five years. In 2012 and 2013, manned spacecraft successfully docked with the space lab.

"The difference is Tiangong-2 is a space station in a real sense. Technical adjustments have been made based on experience and data from Tiangong One- which will continue scientific missions," said Wu.

Preparations are also underway for China's FIRST cargo spaceship, which is set to launch next year and dock with Tiangong 2.

Wu also said:"It will test key technologies in the construction and operation of a space station, such as cargo transportation, and propellant supply in orbit."

The international space station is scheduled to retire by 2020, when China is on course to become the only country with a permanent presence in space.

World's most sensitive 'eye' - Chinese experts develop best rendezvous and docking CCD Sensor

BEIJING, June 22 2015 (Xinhua) -- Chinese space experts have developed the world's most sensitive "eye" that enables the autonomous rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft -- flying eight times faster than bullets -- more efficiently and safely.

The "eye" is China's newly developed third-generation rendezvous and docking CCD optical imaging sensor. It will be used on China's second orbiting space lab, Tiangong-2, the Chang'e-5 lunar probe and the permanent manned space station, according to China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

China plans to launch Tiangong-2 in 2016, and send Chang'e-5 to collect samples from the moon and return to earth around 2017. It also aims to put a permanent manned space station into service around 2022.

"Good 'eyesight' is crucial for one spacecraft chasing another for hundreds of thousands of kilometers to achieve a perfect rendezvous and docking -- it's like threading the needle," says Gong Dezhu, a CAST designer who worked on the CCD optical imaging sensor.

"The last 150 meters between the two spacecraft is the most critical moment. A slight deviation during docking might lead to a disaster like the one caused by Mann, the main antagonist in the movie Interstellar," Gong says.

Compared with the CCD optical imaging sensor used in the docking of Tiangong-1 and the Shenzhou spacecraft, the new "eye" can see clearer under direct sunlight, which will greatly improve safety. The window period of the docking process will be twice the length, Gong says.

"And the reaction time between the 'eye' capturing the first sight of its target and recognizing it has been shortened from 10 seconds to less than one second," Gong says.

The sensor's weight and power consumption is only half that of comparable products internationally, says Gong.


Such "eyes" can also be used on mechanical arms, and for refueling and repairing of spacecraft, as well as aerial refueling and docking of underwater vehicles, experts say. - Xinhua

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