Astronauts being prepped as space station nears

[Brotherhood]

Astronauts being prepped as space station nears - People's Daily Online January 18, 2011

A research project to train astronauts and study their ability to endure space missions has been launched as the country gears up for the launching of two unmanned space modules later this year, aimed at future space dockings.

The research looks into the impact of prolonged stays of astronauts in conditions of zero gravity, rapid day and night shifts, and limited living quarters, so as to guarantee their safety, health and work efficiency in space, the People's Liberation Army Daily reported Monday.

Scheduled to take place until 2015, the project is being jointly carried out by eight Chinese research institutes of aerospace sciences and life sciences. It will play a crucial role in the building of a manned space station, and in promoting scientific progress and breakthroughs in related fields, the report said.

Pang Zhihao, a researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology, told the Global Times that the program marks a milestone in the nation's training of aerospace talent.

"To live and work in a space station long-term poses great physical and psychological challenges to astronauts. It's important to study the impact on the astronauts and train them to master basic techniques such as space walking and the assembly and maintenance of space equipment," he said, adding that the scale of the program is much smaller than that of the US.

China formally announced its manned space station program in October and said it planned to complete construction of a "relatively large" manned space laboratory by 2020. Two batches of astronauts were recruited, with women finally being included, to operate the space station.

The space station program is planned to be completed in three parts. They are composed of first developing Shenzhou spaceships and then technologies needed for docking and extra-vehicular activities, parts that are currently underway, and finally construction of the space station itself.

China has sent six astronauts into space since 2003. Yang Liwei was the first Chinese to voyage beyond the planet's atmosphere for 21 hours in Shenzhou-5 in 2003, and Zhai Zhigang was the first Chinese to walk in outer space in 2008, paving the way for the country's next space mission.

As the second step toward the realization of a space station is underway, an unmanned space module, the Tiangong-1, will be launched in the first half of this year, and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft will blast off during the second half of the year. The two are expected to complete China's first space docking and are regarded as essential components of building the space station.

Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace, will serve as a docking station for Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10. The module will eventually be converted into a manned space laboratory where astronauts will live and conduct research.

Pang said China's space station will initially be used mainly for carrying out scientific research, and eventually can be used as a space factory to manufacture products that cannot be produced on Earth due to the impact of gravity.

Pang added that the space station can serve as a space maintenance center where faulty satellites can be repaired instead of being sent back to Earth, as well as a transfer station, via which astronauts are sent to the moon and to Mars, the two celestial bodies to which China is planning to launch probes.Song

Shengxia and Huang Jingjing contributed to this story

 

[Akasa]

"If you can't join them, beat them."

The US rejected China's favor in the International Space Station, so don't go off complaining about a new "competitor" in space.

 

[Brotherhood]

China to launch 1st Mars probe in 2013 - People's Daily Online January 18, 2011

Qi Faren, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief designer of Shenzhou spaceships, indicated on Jan. 16 that China is expected to launch the first Mars probe in 2013.

The probe, Yinghuo-1(YH-1), was due to blast off in October 2009 with Russia's "Phobos Explorer" from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but the launch was postponed.

Qi Faren disclosed that China and Russia will launch the first Mars probe this year. By 2013, there will be a minimum distance between the Mars and the Earth, which will be a good time to launch the Mars probe. If this opportunity is missed, China will have to wait several years to launch another. Therefore, China will consider launching its first Mars probe independently.

Qi said that this is only a consideration of the aerospace industry and not the Chinese government's formal decision-making at present. However, China's space industry is fully capable of successfully launching the Mars probe.

China's space industry plans important developments in the coming years, which will culminate in the construction of a space station by 2020, Qi said.
　　
He explained that China will build the space station to solve four stages of difficult problems in research and development. China successfully and independently put a man into space in the first stage.

In the second stage, China will launch Tiangong-1, an unmanned space module, in the first half of 2011 and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft in the second half of the year to carry out the nation's first-ever space docking.

Tiangong, or the heavenly palace, would finally be transformed into a manned space lab after experimental dockings with three Shenzhou spacecraft, which are expected to be put into space within two years following the module's launch.

In the third stages, China will launch the cargo spacecraft docked to the space station.

The fourth stage will launch the recycling system for air and water resources. Qi explained that the space station cannot always rely on spacecraft to transport materials, so it will be necessary to research and develop a recycling system in the future.

A renewable system means fully utilizing the astronauts' sweat, urine and other wastes for reuse in the space station. The space station will include a core module, two laboratory modules and a number of cargo spacecraft and manned spacecraft by 2020, Qi said.

For China's lunar exploration program, Qi indicated that currently the lunar exploration program will be divided into three steps. The first step is to fly around the moon, which has been completed.

The second step is to send the lunar rover to the moon surface to conduct a certain range of activities and ship back all the information to the Earth. The third step is to extract samples from the moon, which can be carried back to the Earth to explore the presence of water resources.

By Zhang Qian, People's Daily Online

 

[sreekimpact]

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