Shenzhou-15 crew to visit China Space Station, conduct 1st crew handover in orbit in China’s space history

 

 https://www.space.com/china-shenzhou-15-astronaut-launch-webcast

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The line-up of three taikonauts for Shenzhou-15 manned spaceflight mission, Zhang Lu, Fei Junlong, and Deng Qingming (from left to right). Photo: VCG

China on Monday unveiled the line-up of three taikonauts for Shenzhou-15 manned spaceflight mission that is set to be launched on Tuesday night. The trio led by mission commander Fei Junlong with two space newcomers Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu are going to conduct a direct handover in orbit with the Shenzhou-14 crew at the China Space Station in construction, which shall mark a first in China's aerospace history. 

The upcoming Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceflight mission is not only the anchor-leg launch mission at the China Space Station construction stage, but also is the first one to embark on the next operational stage, Fei, the 57-year-old veteran taikonaut who visited the space as the mission commander in the China's Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005, remarked at a press conference on Monday at the Jiuquan Satellite Space Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province. 

The crew will carry out more experiments in orbit, operate, maintain and repair relevant equipment and above all execute even more challenging extravehicular activities, or known as spacewalks, with more complicated paths to take on, Fei said on Monday.

The Shenzhou-15 crew has undergone great amount of specific training, which made them very confident to deliver all the set goals and to successfully complete their space run, Fei said. 

Deng Qingming, 56, is among the first batch of taikonauts trained in China that includes the country's first astronaut Yang Liwei and also his mission commander Fei in the Shenzhou-15 mission. He has served as a backup for nearly 25 years, in missions such as the Shenzhou-9 and 10, but never got the chance to fly. This will be his first time ever in space. 

Zhang Lu, 46, also a new face, was selected in the second batch of taikonauts trained in China in 2010. 

Mission insiders told the Global Times on Monday that the two crews of six taikonauts will carry out the space station handover in a face-to-face manner for the first time in the country's manned space history and that is not only of symbolic significance but also carries great practical values to the overall development of the country's first permanent space outpost.

Sources with China's astronaut training system, told the Global Times on Monday that such feat would enable the predecessor Shenzhou-14 to introduce and share what their work and life would be like inside the space station with the new Shenzhou-15 crew directly, boosting the continuity and efficiency of the handover.

It would also help save the resources to set the space station combo from occupied state to unoccupied one and then back again. And the handover will be more target-oriented, especially for those ongoing experiments and space station maintenance work, the sources said. 

Having six taikonauts simultaneously onboard the China Space Station in construction, would also verify its performance under the full load condition, which would lay groundwork for future tasks where more payload technicians are needed for more complicated experiments, Song Zhongping, a space watcher and TV commentator, told the Global Times.   

By plan, the handover will last for a week or so, and after that, Shenzhou-14 crew will return to the Dongfeng landing site on Earth. 

As the temperature drops to somewhere near minus 20 C in Jiuquan around this time of the year, the launch of Shenzhou-15, which is via a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan center, also faces a special challenge of extremely low temperature.

According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the developer of the Long March-2F rocket, Shenzhou spacecraft had only been launched twice in unscrewed condition during the Shenzhou-1 and 4 missions in late November. Shenzhou-15 would be first one to be carried out with taikonauts onboard in the cold weather. 

However, the CALT explained that they have taken such unique challenge into consideration. They have also confirmed the two sets of the temperature system inside the rocket's nose cone, to make sure that the temperature of the propellant of the return and propelling module meets the launch condition. 

Major tasks of Shenzhou-15 mission

To-do list 

At a press briefing on Monday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Ji Qiming, assistant to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) director, said that Shenzhou-15 is the final launch during the construction phase of China Space Station, as well as the opening of the application phase of the station. 

They will stay in space for six months and return to the ground in May next year. The main objectives of the mission include verifying the space station's ability to support crew rotation and achieving the first in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou-14 members. 

According to the mission plan, the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft will conduct a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the space station combo at Tianhe core module's front port and then form a new combo of three space crafts and three modules. 

It will be the largest structure of the China Space Station to date with a total mass of nearly 100 tons. 

Major works across the Shenzhou-15 are categorized into six aspects, including the verification of long-term stays in the space station combo, the unlocking, installation and testing of 15 science experiment cabinets and carrying out more than 40 experiments in the fields of space science research and applications, space medicine and space technology, among others. 

They will conduct three to four extravehicular activities during the mission to complete extension pump set and platform equipment onboard the Mengtian lab module. 

The Shenzhou-15 crew will also verify the exiting of cargo airlock cabin and complete six cargo exiting tasks in cooperation with the ground. They will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-6 cargo craft and Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship. They will also have a work handover with the Shenzhou-16 crew in orbit.

Open for cooperation

After Mengtian lab module conducted successful transposition in orbit at 9:32 am on November 3, China Space Station has completed its T-shape basic structure assembly in orbit. China has conducted 11 space launches with perfect success rate within 20 months at the space station construction stage and the China Space Station is set to become operational within 2022.

Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, told the Global Times that the life support system of the China Space Station is one of the most advanced innovations onboard and shows China's space strength. 

Without the home developed life support system, the crew of three taikonauts would need to consume supplies weighing around 8 tons a year. But now it takes only 400 kilograms, as 95 percent of the supplies including oxygen and water, could be obtained with the help of the life support system, Zhou said. 

In addressing international cooperation as it related to the space station, Ji from the CMSA said a number of space science application projects China jointly selected with UNOOSA and ESA are being implemented as planned, and the relevant payloads will begin to enter the Chinese space station next year.

"We have always welcomed astronauts from other countries to enter the China Space Station to conduct experiments. We have received requests from several countries to send astronauts to participate in our space station missions, and we are coordinating with relevant parties and actively preparing for the training of foreign astronauts," Ji said.

On November 1, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, responded to media inquiries upon the successful docking of Mengtian space lab, the third and final part of China Space Station's three-module structure earlier that day, by saying that China always relies on its own capabilities in its manned space program, and at the same time actively engages the world. 

China's Space Station is the first of its kind to be open to all UN member states. So far a number of science experiment projects from 17 countries including Switzerland, Poland, Germany and Italy have been included in the selected projects of China Space Station, Zhao said. 

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Shenzhou-13 crew enter China's Tianhe space station core cabin

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Shenzhou-13 crew

The three taikonauts onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship entered the country's space station core module Tianhe on Saturday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

After Shenzhou-13 successfully completed a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the orbiting Tianhe module, the Shenzhou-13 crew Zhai Zhigang,Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu entered the orbital capsule of Tianhe, marking the country's second crew to have entered China's Tianhe space station core cabin.

Just like everyone else when they first enter their new home, the first thing that the Shenzhou-13 crew did was to check out their sweet cozy bedrooms and connect to the Wi-Fi. A livestream video shows that Zhai, who was the first to enter, was so involved and excited to settle in that he was floating upside down in the air. The three then set up the wireless headphones for space-Earth talks.

After a brief conversation reporting their safety to the ground control center, the crew will soon have their very first lunch in their new home, Yang Liwei, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office and the country's first astronaut said.

Among the three new residents, there are the country's first spacewalker Zhai Zhigang, first female taikonaut to have stepped inside its own space station Wang Yaping, and first taikonaut who was trained in an international space agency Ye Guangfu. They will stay in space for six months, double the time of the Shenzhou-12 crew.

They are expected to return to earth in April 2022, which means they will celebrate a special, unforgettable Chinese Lunar New Year in space.

They are tasked to carry out two to three extravehicular activities, better known as spacewalks. Wang Yaping will participate in at least one spacewalk, becoming the first Chinese woman to achieve such a feat, the Global Times learned from mission insiders.

According to the CMSA, they are also expected to install transfer gears linking the big and small robotic arms and related suspension gears for future construction work.

The Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft successfully docked with China's Tianhe space station core cabin on Saturday early morning, after quick automated rendezvous, or as researchers call it, the 'space waltz.'

The rendezvous and docking happened at 6:56 am on Saturday morning, six and a half hours after traveling on a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement sent to the Global Times.

Docked at the bottom of the Tianhe core cabin from a radial direction, the spacecraft safely and smoothly delivered the second batch of residents to China's space station.

A combination flight has been formed, consisting of the Tianhe core cabin at the center, and Shenzhou-13 manned craft, Tianzhou-2 and -3 cargo craft on the side, the CMSA said.

According to the spacecraft developers with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), they have designed a new rendezvous path and circling flight mode to support fast-docking in the radial direction.

As beautiful as the "space waltz" was, it was a lot more difficult than the front and rear docking with the Tianhe core cabin as the Shenzhou-12, Tianzhou-2 and -3 missions had exercised. "For front and rear dockings, there is a 200-meter holding point for the craft, enabling them to maintain a stable attitude in orbit even when engines are not working. However, radial rendezvous does not have such a midway stopping point, and it requires continuous attitude and orbit control," the CAST said in a note to the Global Times.

It added that during the radial rendezvous, the spacecraft needs to turn from level flight to vertical flight with a wide range of attitude maneuvers, posing tough challenges for the "eyes" of the craft to see the target in time and ensure that the "eyes" will not be disturbed by complex lighting changes.

The success of this new docking method would be another sign of China's spacecraft docking capabilities, experts noted.

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Knock knock. This is your delivery-man Tianzhou-3, and please confirm your package receipt and may you have a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Carrying the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, the Long March-7 Y4 rocket lifted off from Wenchang Space Launch Center located in South China's Hainan Province on Monday afternoon, one day ahead of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival - one of the happiest family reunion holidays for the Chinese people.

The lift-off gave the nearby forest of palm trees quite a shake in the Hainan tropical haze, the same way it excited many who came to witness the historic moment at the Wenchang beach on Monday afternoon.

As the fourth of 11 missions scheduled to build China's three-module space station, Tianzhou-3 mission came shortly after the historic Shenzhou-12 mission in which three taikonauts spent a record 90 days in the China's space station core module and safely returned to Earth on Friday.

After a flight time of around 597 seconds, the spacecraft separated with the rocket and entered preset orbit. At 3:22 pm, the solar panels onboard the spacecraft smoothly unfolded, with all functions in normal operating condition, marking the success of the third launch of a spaceship to the space station core cabin, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA.)

The Monday mission is tasked to bring supplies, equipment and propellant to get Tianhe ready for the next three-taikonaut Shenzhou-13 mission in October for their six-month stay. It is the Tianzhou spacecraft series second supply delivery run to the orbiting Tianhe module following a first by the Tianzhou-2 mission launched on May 29.

Although the launch of Tianzhou-2 by Long March-7 Y3 rocket was a successful one, it experienced two delays and met problems of leaking of injected fuels.

The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was originally slated to be launched at around 1:30 am on May 20 and to head to China's Tianhe space station core cabin, which was launched into orbit on April 29, for a supply run. However, the launch was scrubbed narrowly following an announcement from CMSA on the early morning of May 20 for "technical reasons."

Research teams were dispatched immediately to check system functions, while the command center prepared for an attempt to recover the mission, which had been set to a day later in the early morning of May 21. However, after liquid oxygen was refueled eight hours before the scheduled launch time, abnormal signals once again occurred.

Drawing lessons from the previous launch, the Long March-7 rocket developer with the China Academy of Launch Vehicles have further optimized the quality examination process before and after the lift-off and make detailed emergency plans. This is to ensure the launch mission is on time with zero errors, the academy told the Global Times on Friday.

Photo:Deng Xiaoci/Global Times

To sustain Taikonauts' longer stay in space

Global Times learned from the mission insiders that Tianzhou-3 mission will lay ground for the upcoming October Shenzhou-13 mission, just the way Tianzhou-2 mission prepared for the epic Shenzohu-12 manned spaceflight mission. The October mission is expected to last six months, renewing the record of the longest stay in space for a Chinese astronaut in a single mission.

The spacecraft developer China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) told the Global Times in a statement that just like the Tianzhou-2, Tianzhou-3 will carry a range of goods including daily necessities, drinking water, gas supplies, consumables for extravehicular activities [spacewalk,] as well as experiment payloads.

Yang Sheng, Chief designer of the Tianzhou-3 spacecraft system, told the Global Times that "As Tianzhou-3 mission will sustain taikonauts' 6-month-long stay in space, the density of cargo is greater on Tianzhou-3 than on Tianzhou-2, and Tianzhou-3's loading capability is also higher than that of Tianzhou-2. The number of packages onboard Tianzhou-3 is 25 percent more than on Tianzhou-2."

There were 6.8 tons of supplies onboard the Tianzhou-2, including some 160 parcels of goods and two tons of propellants, CAST told the Global Times previously.

One of the most expensive items to be onboard the Tianzhou-3 would be one piece of spacesuit specially designed for spacewalk missions that weighs some 90 kilograms, the CAST highlighted in the Friday statement. Tianzhou-2 had sent two pieces of spacesuits for Taikonauts' spacewalk with each weighing some 100 kilograms.

Also, onboard Tianzhou-3 is the replacement parts of the urine treatment system to ensure the device is in the best condition for the Shenzhou-13 crew, Global Times learned from the system developer 206 Research Institute of the Second Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).

"The system has processed some 600 liters of urine into over 500 liters of water which was used to generate oxygen and for clean-up purpose during the Shenzhou-12 crew's three-month stay. Shenzhou-13 crew will install those parts when moving into the China's space station core module," Cui Guangzhi, the project leader, told the Global Times.

The Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft is expected to also execute a fast and automatic rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe core module, just like the Tianzhou-2 spacecraft did in May, which took some eight hours after lift-off,according to Deng Kaiwen, assistant of the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft's chief commander from the spacecraft developer

Compared to the Tianzhou-1's rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 in 2017, which took about two days, Tianzhou-2 took a mere eight hours to achieve the feat in May.

Tianzhou-3 will dock to the Tianhe module from the rear. Before such development, CMSA updated on Saturday, Tianzhou-2 had flown around Tianhe and conducted an automatic docking to the craft's front, which took four hours.

Shenzhou-13 will later rendezvous with the Tianhe module and conduct a R-Bar or vertical docking with the orbiting craft, which Shenzhou-12 had practiced on Friday before heading back to Earth. 

 

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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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