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China plans to conduct its latest manned spaceflight in June, sending three astronauts to enter the recently launched core module of the nation’s space station and work there for three months, according to a senior space official.
Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency, said earlier this month that the astronauts on board the Shenzhou XII spacecraft will become the first occupants of the core module and will be tasked with undertaking preparation work for the next steps in the station’s construction.
They have begun final training for the coming mission, he said, adding that other astronauts selected for future spaceflights are also receiving intensive training.
Before the Shenzhou XII mission, the Tianzhou 2 robotic cargo spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in late May to dock with the currently unmanned core module and then perform autonomous refueling and resupply operations, according to Hao.
The Tianzhou 2 was transported to the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province in midApril, and the Shenzhou XII arrived in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at the same time.
The official said that in September, the Tianzhou 3 cargo ship will be lifted to dock with the core module and the next month, another three-crew team will fly with the Shenzhou XIII to the module to stay there for six months.
In 2022, two large space labs 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 Chinese space station, which is scheduled to become complete and start formal operation around the end of next year.
China’s most adventurous space endeavor, the multimodule space station, named Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, will consist of three main components — a core module attached to two space labs — with a combined weight of nearly 70 metric tons. The entire station is set to work for about 15 years, mission planners have said.
The core module, named Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens, was lifted by a Long March 5B heavy-lift carrier rocket at the Wenchang launch center on April 29.
The biggest and heaviest spacecraft China has ever constructed, the module is 16.6 meters long and has a diameter of 4.2 meters. The craft’s weight, at 22.5 tons, is equal to the combined weight of 15 standard-size automobiles. It has three parts — a connecting section, a lifesupport and control section and a resources section.
The capsule will be central to the Tiangong station’s future operations, given that astronauts will live there and control the entire station from inside. It will also be used to host scientific and technological experiments.
Upon its completion, Tiangong will be manned regularly by groups of three astronauts in periods lasting several months. During handovers to new three-astronaut groups, the station will accommodate up to six astronauts.
The facility will be capable of docking with multiple crewed and cargo spaceships at the same time and will also be able to link with foreign spacecraft if they have a Chinese-standard docking hatch.
Participation welcomed
Speaking of the station’s future, Hao said his agency will strive to make sure that it makes the best use of the asset to advance space science, technology and application.
He said 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.
In addition, the agency has signed agreements with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs on space station cooperation. The two organizations have jointly issued a statement inviting scientists from around the world to submit their research proposals for an opportunity to conduct their own experiments aboard the Chinese station.
“As of now, 17 nations have confirmed their participation in nine scientific tasks on our station, with related work proceeding well,” Hao said. “We will continue working with the UN’s outer space office to solicit proposals for future scientific collaborations.”
The official said there will be more than 20 cabinets aboard the station reserved for scientific instruments that were designed in accordance with international standards, adding that they will be available for collaborators.
Moreover, Hao said there definitely will be foreign astronauts on the Chinese station.
In April 1971, the former Soviet Union became the first in the world to operate a space station with the deployment of its Salyut 1 station in a low-Earth orbit. Since then, 10 space stations have been launched and most of them were built by the Soviet Union.
Currently, the only operational station is the International Space Station, a joint effort by several national space agencies including the United States’ NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos. However, China has been excluded from the project since its very beginning mainly because of US objections.
Tortuous path
As a major symbol of the space age, manned spaceflight first emerged in China’s space plans in the mid-1960s.
Chinese scientists and engineers soon began research and development for a crewed spaceship and started training a small group of astronaut candidates selected from elite Air Force pilots. All of their work was kept secret.
However, the endeavor had to be stopped in the mid-1970s due to financing and technological obstacles.
From the mid-1980s, Chinese scientists began to urge the government to consider reopening the manned space program as they were convinced that it would be crucial to the future of the country’s space industry.
In August 1992, a special governmental committee decided that China should develop manned spacecraft and train astronauts with the ultimate goal being to assemble and operate a space station in the near future. The plan was approved in September that year by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, officially unfolding the nation’s manned space program that involves hundreds of thousands of researchers, engineers and technicians.
On Oct 15, 2003, the country carried out its first manned spaceflight, sending Yang Liwei on a 21hour journey around the mother planet in the Shenzhou V spacecraft.
Since then, China has conducted six manned spaceflights, which totaled 68 days and orbited Earth 1,089 times, while 11 Chinese astronauts have traveled more than 46 million km in space and conducted more than 100 experiments.
Chinese astronauts have undertaken extravehicular activity, conducted several extended missions inside two prototype space stations, and delivered a 40-minute lecture from space that was watched by more than 60 million students at about 80,000 schools.
Those accomplishments have become a source of pride and growing confidence in the nation, in addition to sparking patriotic sentiments in Chinese communities across the world.
The first Chinese in space, Yang recalled that during a visit to New York in 2004, an 80-something Chinese-American held his hands and tearfully told him that, for overseas Chinese, China’s achievements in space reflected the fact that “our motherland has risen”, which gave them renewed courage and strength.