Building a home in the sky
China launched the Shenzhou XIII mission to the Tiangong space station early in the morning of Oct 16, marking the start of the country’s longest spaceflight.
Carrying the Shenzhou XIII spacecraft, a 20-story-tall Long March 2F carrier rocket blasted off at 00:23 a.m. at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert, brightening the dark sky as it roared up from a huge service tower.
After about 10 minutes, the rocket placed the 8.8-shortton spaceship in a low-Earth orbit about 249 miles above the planet. The three-member crew — Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu — entered the station’s core module, named Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens, after their spacecraft docked with the module, which is the first, and central, section of the permanent space station — Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace. They will then start a six-month journey inside the station.
During their mission, the main task of the astronauts will be to demonstrate and test key technologies involved in the assembly and future operations of the Chinese space station, said Zhou Yaqiang, a chief designer at the China Manned Space Agency’s Technical Bureau.
“Specifically, they will verify the equipment and technologies for longtime flight with the station. Like their peers in the Shenzhou XII mission, they will carry out spacewalks to test the robotic arm and other instruments for extravehicular activities, and will also conduct scientific experiments to accumulate experience for the station’s construction and operations.”
Shenzhou XIII is the fourth spacecraft to visit Tiangong, and the second crewed ship to transport astronauts to the orbiting outpost.
Pang Zhihao, a spaceflight researcher in Beijing and a former analyst at the China Academy of Space Technology, said that the Shenzhou XIII mission will lay a solid foundation for the next steps in the Tiangong space station program.
“It will test the station’s mechanism and capability of ensuring a long-term stay by a crew, including the bioregenerative life-support systems, material supply and health management plans. It will also check whether the core module and the Shenzhou spaceship can withstand a tough environment during a long-term flight,” he said.
Tiangong, one of China’s most challenging and sophisticated space endeavors, will consist of three main components — a core module attached to two space laboratories — with a combined weight of nearly 77 short tons. The entire station is set to work for about 15 years in a low-Earth orbit about 249 miles above the planet.
The station’s core module Tianhe was lifted by a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province in late April.
Tianhe, the biggest and heaviest spacecraft China has built, is 54.5 feet long and 13.8 feet in diameter. The craft’s weight, at 24.8 short tons, is equal to the combined weight of 15 standardsize automobiles. It has three parts: a connecting section, a life-support and control section, and a resources section.
The craft is now connected with the Tianzhou 2 robotic cargo ship that was launched from the Wenchang facility in late May and the Tianzhou 3, which was lifted from Wenchang last month.
Next year two large space laboratories will be launched to connect with the core module. Moreover, two manned missions and two robotic cargo flights will be made that year to continue construction of the Tiangong station, which is due to become complete and start formal operation around the end of next year.
Upon Tiangong’s completion it will be manned regularly by groups of three astronauts in periods lasting several months. During hand-overs to new threeastronaut groups, the station will accommodate up to six astronauts.
Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency, has said his agency will strive to ensure that it makes the best use of Tiangong to advance space science, technology and application.
Scientists will be able to take advantage of the facility’s unique environment to perform mutation breeding experiments, produce special medicines and create new materials, thus generating scientific, technological and economic benefits, he said.
In addition, the agency has signed agreements with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs on space station collaboration. The two organizations have jointly invited scientists from around the world to submit research proposals for an opportunity to conduct their own experiments aboard the Chinese station.
There will be more than 20 cabinets aboard the station reserved for scientific instruments that were designed in accordance with international standards, Hao said, adding that they will be available for collaborators and non-Chinese astronauts will definitely be on the station.
Chinese engineers are developing a next-generation crewed vehicle that is expected to feature world-class designs and technologies, high reliability and flexibility, reusability and multiple functions.
It will serve Tiangong’s future operations as well as the country’s manned lunar missions that are being planned by scientists.