Another woman set for space mission
Source: Xinhua |
March 2, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A WOMAN is expected to be one of the three Chinese astronauts onboard the Shenzhou-10, the country's new manned spacecraft which is due for launch sometime between June and August, Zhou Jianping, head designer of China's manned space program, said yesterday.
The Shenzhou-10 is to dock with the orbiting lab module Tiangong-1.
"The three astronauts will stay in orbit for 15 days, including 12 days when they will work inside the coupled complex of the Shenzhou-10 and Tiangong-1," Zhou said.
Meanwhile, China's indigenous Long March-7 rocket is expected to launch next year, a senior official at the rocket's design institute said. Liang Xiaohong, Party chief of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said researchers had made key technological breakthroughs, including in the design and production of a liquid oxygen and kerosene engine which can produce a thrust of 180 kilonewtons.
For the Long March-5, which is due to make its debut launch within three years, researchers had grasped key technologies for producing and testing of most of the rocket structure, he said.
Both rockets are expected to rank among the backbone carrier rockets for China's future space missions.
Liang also said China has developed a modified model of the Long March-3B carrier rocket for a moon landing mission to be completed by the Chang'e-3 moon orbiter later this year.
The orbiter's structure and size are considerably different from those of its predecessors, requiring some modifications to its carrier rocket, Liang said.
Liang said the new design will allow the Chang'e-3 to take advantage of more launch windows in comparison to the Chang'e-2.
The new model also features combined guidance technology and real-time video feeds that allow for monitoring of the rocket's key operations, Liang said.
The Shenzhou-10 is to dock with the orbiting lab module Tiangong-1.
"The three astronauts will stay in orbit for 15 days, including 12 days when they will work inside the coupled complex of the Shenzhou-10 and Tiangong-1," Zhou said.
Meanwhile, China's indigenous Long March-7 rocket is expected to launch next year, a senior official at the rocket's design institute said. Liang Xiaohong, Party chief of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said researchers had made key technological breakthroughs, including in the design and production of a liquid oxygen and kerosene engine which can produce a thrust of 180 kilonewtons.
For the Long March-5, which is due to make its debut launch within three years, researchers had grasped key technologies for producing and testing of most of the rocket structure, he said.
Both rockets are expected to rank among the backbone carrier rockets for China's future space missions.
Liang also said China has developed a modified model of the Long March-3B carrier rocket for a moon landing mission to be completed by the Chang'e-3 moon orbiter later this year.
The orbiter's structure and size are considerably different from those of its predecessors, requiring some modifications to its carrier rocket, Liang said.
Liang said the new design will allow the Chang'e-3 to take advantage of more launch windows in comparison to the Chang'e-2.
The new model also features combined guidance technology and real-time video feeds that allow for monitoring of the rocket's key operations, Liang said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
