Tiangong-2 - China one step closer to space station

China to Launch Second Space Lab Tiangong-2 in Q3
2016-02-28

China will send its second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 into space in the third quarter of this year, which is expected to dock with a cargo ship scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year, sources from the manned space program said Sunday.

As part of the country's space lab program, China also plans to launch the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, which will carry two astronauts on board, in the fourth quarter of this year to dock with Tiangong-2, according to the program's spokesperson.

After its first test flight in the Wenchang satellite launch center in south China's Hainan Province, a next-generation Long March-7 rocket will put the country's first cargo ship Tianzhou-1, which literally means "heavenly vessel," into space in the first half of 2017 to dock with Tiangong-2 and conduct experiments.

During the process, China will verify key technologies including cargo transportation, on-orbit propellant resupply, astronauts' medium-term stay, as well as conduct space science and application experiments on a relatively large scale, the spokesperson said.

Preparation for the space lab program is progressing steadily, according to the spokesperson.

The astronauts to board the Shenzhou-11 are receiving training, while the Tiangong-2, Shenzhou-11, two Long March-2F carrier rockets to be used to lift them into space, the Long March-7 rocket, and the Tianzhou-1 are either being assembled or undergoing assembly examination.

China's multi-billion-dollar space program, a source of surging national pride in the country, aims to put a permanent manned space station into service around 2022.

By around 2020, the construction of the country's first orbiting space station should be completed, according to the spokesperson.

The space station is expected to consist of three parts -- a core module attached to two labs, each weighing about 20 tonnes.

China already launched its first space lab, Tiangong-1, in September 2011 and has conducted two dockings with the module in the following two years.

The Tiangong-1 has been in service for four years and a half and is in good working condition, which enables it to remain in orbit for continued operation, the spokesperson said.

I wish they could find a way to dock TG-1 and TG-2 together.

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=30224.120

Tiangong-2 launch window: September 13 to 16.

China's second space lab Tiangong-2 to be launched between Sept. 15 and 20
2016-09-09 14:53:21 Xinhua Web Editor: Huang Shan


China's second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2. [Photo: weibo.com]

China's second space lab Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be put into space between September 15 and 20, according to the office of China's manned space program.

The space lab was transferred with its carrier rocket to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Friday, said a statement from the office.

It took 90 minutes to complete the transfer from the assembling center to the launch pad.

"The completion of the transfer signals that the space lab Tiangong-2 mission has entered its launching stage," it said.

Technicians completed testing on the assembling of the lab and the rocket after they had been separately delivered to the launch center in July.

In the next few days, the launch center will continue testing rocket and inject propellent before the launch.

Tiangong-2, which can enable two astronauts to live in space for 30 days, is capable of receiving manned and cargo spaceships and will be used for testing systems and processes for mid-term space stays and refueling.

It will also be involved in experiments on aerospace medicine, space sciences, on-orbit maintenance and space station technologies.

China's first space lab Tiangong-1, which was launched in September 2011, ended its data service earlier this year. It had docked with Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft and undertaken a series of experiments.


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Moderator Note: The other articles are removed and put into separate threads for discussions.

China's 2nd space lab to be launched

Xinhua, September 10, 2016



The Tiangong-2 stands with its carrier rocket on the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 9, 2016. China's second space lab Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be put into space between September 15 and 20, according to the office of China's manned space program. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiyuan)




The Tiangong-2 stands with its carrier rocket on the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 9, 2016. China's second space lab Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be put into space between September 15 and 20, according to the office of China's manned space program. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiyuan)




The Tiangong-2 is transferred with its carrier rocket to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 9, 2016. China's second space lab Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be put into space between September 15 and 20, according to the office of China's manned space program. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiyuan)




The Tiangong-2 stands with its carrier rocket on the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 9, 2016. China's second space lab Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be put into space between September 15 and 20, according to the office of China's manned space program. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiyuan)




The Tiangong-2 stands with its carrier rocket on the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 9, 2016. China's second space lab Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be put into space between September 15 and 20, according to the office of China's manned space program. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiyuan)

Source: https://defence.pk/threads/china-to-launch-second-space-lab-tiangong-2-in-q3.424422/#ixzz4JpSCcrm5

after Tiangang 2, Shenzhou11 will dock tiangong 2 at the end of this year with two astronauts, 2017, when cz7 ready it will reload tiangong2 with tianzhou1.

Chinese space lab will be appear around 2020 when tiangong, shenzhou, tianzhou spaceship testing finished.


tiangong2:

shenzhou11:


hope cz7 will perform well, then less than 10 launching can establish a complete space lab when all necessary components are under way and ready.


China three steps to build space lab:
first step 1992-2005， manned spaceship， shenzhou5,6；
second step：2005-2018， manned spaceship docking， different space objects connecting，single space lab， acting outside the ship， short term living in space，tiangong1，tianggong2， manned spaceship7-11.
three step,from 2020: spacelab in a certain scale，longterm running with or withour man .

China to launch second space lab Tiangong-2 with cutting edge facilities in the second half of 2016

China will send its second space lab Tiangong-2 into the space in the second half of this year, which is expected to carry out about 10 scientific experiments. The space station will be completed around 2020, revolutionary discoveries are expected to be found there.

A large scale of science and utilization research will be conducted in Tiangong-2


Photograph by Xinhua

“Many space scientific experiments are arranged in each space mission,” Jianping Zhou, chief designer of China manned space engineering, told Xinhua.

On June 2, 2016, Yidong Gu, senior consultant of CSU ( Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences) gave a lecture about space missions on Tiangong-2 at the symposium hold by Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Take “space-earth quantum distribution and laser communication” experiment for example, it is the key medium that realize the unconditional confidential quantum communication.

“The world’s first quantum science satellite is scheduled to launch in July 2016, and the first long-distance confidential communication medium in the world, ‘Beijing-Shanghai’ route, will be completed in 2016. Tiangong-2 will make it possible for scientists to testify the quantum confidential communication network system.” Said Yidong Gu.

Another project on Tiangong-2, the detection of gamma ray, will detect gamma ray bursts and solar flares, “it is expected to develop a new method to research gamma ray polarization.” Said Yidong Gu. The gamma ray detection equipment jointly developed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Geneva, this equipment works ten times as effective as other similar instruments in the world. Scientists from China and European countries will jointly discovery the structures, origin and evolution of the universe.

In addition, Tiangong-2 will be equipped with cutting edge cold atom clock, to conduct research on “ thermocapillary convection in large scale liquid bridge”, “multi material growth”, “cultivation of advanced plants” and other experiments in space.

Qi Kang, project designer and director of Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, explained that it is necessary to control the growth of mono-crystalline silicon in the experiment process to produce high quality semiconductor material, and this experiment will be conducted in a unique microgravity environment, which make it possible for scientists to analysis the process of thermocapillary convection.

Space Station and optical capsule: national level space laboratory

Tiangong-2 has the same mission as Tiangong-1, they both automatically operate on orbit for a long term, and also provide short term service for manned aircraft. These two space laboratories are prepared to serve the space station.

China will has its own space station about 2020, it will carry out scientific research and space experiments. The space station will boost the development of space research and make it possible for scientists to conduct cutting edge space experiments and also make contribution to the whole human civilization. It is designed to have three T-shaped capsules, including one core capsule, and two experimental capsules, each of them is 20 tons. This space station can also dock with other capsules, say, a cargo capsule, and two manned spacecraft, to conduct research on space experiment and space utilization, then the whole system adds up to 90 tons. Said Jianping Zhou.

This national level space laboratory has its unique advantage in scientific research. First of all, astronauts can participate in constructing the station, and also involving in scientific research, for example, in Tiangong-2, astronauts will participate in one of the scientific experiments, to plant rice, arabidopsis and other plants to investigate two samples expose to long-term and short-term sunshine. Secondly, experiments can be conducted both in and out of the space station. Thirdly, it is possible for scientists to conduct a series of scientific research. Said Yidong Gu.

According to the lecture, the research conducted in the space station including space life science, biotechnology, microgravity fluid physics and combustion science, space materials science, and other sciences. New techniques on space utilization, will make contribution to making breakthrough in latest space communications and information technology, laser energy transmission, micro satellite, aerospace components, intelligent robots, space increment, space nuclear power technology and other fields of sciences.

Jianping Zhou has uncovered that an optical capsule of dozen tons with an astronomical telescope, “cosmic eye”, will be launched to the same orbit of the space station. “Compared to Hubble Space Telescope, this astronomical telescope’s resolution is almost as clear as Hubble, while the field of view of it is 300 times bigger than that of Hubble.” Said Yidong Gu. It will be used to investigate the acceleration of the universe, the dark matter, the structure of the universe and other formation and evolution of the universe. It is expected to have revolutionary discovery. (Quoted from Xin Hua)

http://english.csu.cas.cn/News_Event/pictures/201606/t20160612_164247.html

docking sound easy but it is one of the most complex process. It show a country true precision capability that very few on earth can do.

Joint drill of Tiangong-2 and carrier rocket goes well
CRI, September 12, 2016

A joint drill of the Tiangong-2 space lab and the carrier rocket Long March II or CZ-2F was held on Sunday at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.


Tiangong-2, China's second space lab, aboard the CZ-2F rocket carrier, is transferred to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province on Friday. (Photo/China Daily)

The drill is designed to simulate situations three hours before the actual launch, which are regarded as the most critical moment to the launch.

According to the engineers, the testing process went smoothly.

A 600-second testing on the components and parts of the Tiangong-2 and its carrier rocket Long March II was carried out during the drill, and they were in good condition.

Tiangong-2, scheduled to be launched in mid-September, enables two astronauts to live in space for 30 days, and is capable of receiving manned and cargo spaceships.

It will act as a testing area for mid-length stays and refueling in space.

***

Heavens speed!

Half an hour later....
Tiangong-2 (Heavenly Palace 2) will be launched!





Tiangong II space lab ready for launch

China will launch the Tiangong II space laboratory on Thursday night, paving the way for a Chinese manned space station, Deputy Director Wu Ping of the China Manned Space Agency said on Wednesday.

Wu, also spokeswoman for the agency, told reporters at a news conference in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center that a Long March 2F carrier rocket was being fueled and would lift the Tiangong II from the Jiuquan center on 10:04 pm Thursday.

"By now, all of the mission’s elements have completed their preparations and rehearsals,” she said.

"The Tiangong II mission will lay a solid foundation and gather valuable experience for the building and operation of our future manned space station,” she said.

Tiangong II, China’s second space lab, has two cabins with different functions — the experiment cabin will be hermetically sealed and will act as the astronauts’ living quarters, and the resource cabin will contain solar panels, storage batteries, propellant and engines.

The space lab is 10.4 meters high, 3.35 meters in diameter and weighs 8.6 metric tons. It is designed to work two years in the space, Wu said.

China launched its first space lab, Tiangong I, in September 2011. Despite its designated life span of two years, it was in service for four and a half. It made six automatic and astronaut-controlled dockings with China’s Shenzhou VIII, Shenzhou IX and Shenzhou X spacecraft.

During its mission, Tiangong II will dock with the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft and Tianzhou 1 cargo spaceship.

The space lab’s main tasks will be to accommodate astronauts’ medium length stay in it and test life-support technologies, and it will be used to test in-orbit refueling and repair plans, conduct experiments in space medicine and space sciences, and examine technologies for the future manned space station, Wu said.

In addition, it will carry 14 pieces of equipment for scientific research and experiments in space, she added.

After entering an initial orbit at about 380 kilometers above Earth, the space lab will perform some of its experiments and also test its equipment.

It will then maneuver to a rendezvous orbit at an altitude of 393 km to dock with the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft, which will be launched in mid-October from the Jiuquan center. The two male Chinese astronauts will stay in the space lab for 30 days.

The two are scheduled to make Chinese astronauts’ longest stay in space to date: 33 days. Chinese astronauts’ current longest space journey was a 15-day mission in June 2013 involving Shenzhou X and Tiangong I.

Tiangong II will also take part in international missions.

Wu said the space lab will carry the world’s first high-sensitive gamma-ray burst detector, which was codeveloped by engineers from China and European Space Agency.

It will also execute an in-orbit study of the effects of weightlessness on cardiovascular functions, a joint effort by Chinese and French scientists, she added.

Space experts and officials from several nations including Germany, Italy and Pakistan, as well as the European Space Agency will be in the Jiuquan center to witness the launch.

China’s manned space program intends to put a permanent manned space station into service. It will consist of a core module attached to two 20-ton labs, around the year 2022, according to the manned space agency.

Half an hour later!

JIUQUAN, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is ready to launch the Tiangong-2 space lab, according to an official with China's manned space program on Thursday.

"Following our preliminary preparation, examination and review tests, all systems and equipment are in position for the mission," said Guo Zhonglai, deputy chief of the Planning Department of the center.

China will launch the space lab from northwest China's Gobi desserts at 10:04 p.m. Thursday, the most recent stage in its increasingly ambitious space program, which is aiming for a manned space station by around 2022.

On Wednesday afternoon, engineers started injecting propellant into the Long March-2F T2 rocket, which will carry Tiangong-2 into space.

Slight breeze and clouds and a suitable temperature have been forecast for lift-off on Thursday night, said Yin Jie, director of the meteorological office of the centre.

"Preparations on the Long March-2F T2 rocket are complete," said Liu Feng, vice chief designer of the rocket.

Tiangong-2 is in good condition and well linked to the space application system, said Zhu Zongpeng, chief designer of the space lab.

Experiments related to medicine, physics and biology, such as quantum key transmission, space atomic clocks and solar storm research, will be carried out in the lab, she said.

Success confirmed