China to send first woman into space to test temporary station
By Yang Jian |
June 16, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA will send its first woman into space today along with two other astronauts to work on an orbiting space lab module for 13 days. It's a key step toward becoming the third nation to set up a permanent space station.
Liu Yang, a 34-year-old air force pilot, will join two other astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft when it lifts off at 6:37pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest Gansu Province.
The spacecraft will attempt a manned docking for the first time with the bus-sized Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace" module now orbiting at 343 kilometers above the Earth.
"After the docking, astronauts will enter and live in the Tiangong-1 and carry on experiments, tests and exercises, but they will dine in the spacecraft," Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, told a press conference at the center yesterday.
The three astronauts will mainly perform medical tests on the effect of weightlessness on the human body, as well as other scientific and engineering tasks on Tiangong, which was put into orbit in September.
Two will live and work inside the module to test its life-support systems while the third will remain in the capsule to deal with any emergency.
Wu said the mission will last more than 10 days before the astronauts return to Earth in the capsule, landing on western Chinese grasslands with the help of parachutes.
The astronauts - Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang - made their public debut yesterday at the center.
They dressed in blue uniforms and were isolated in a glass room from the journalists to avoid any possible exposure to infection before the launch.
Liu Yang mainly will take charge of the medical experiments during the mission.
Joining Liu is veteran astronaut and mission commander Jing and newcomer Liu Wang, both air force senior colonels.
Jing, 46, was one of the three of Shenzhou-7 taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts, who orbited the Earth for three days in 2008.
"We can understand each other by a mere eye contact or expression now as we have been training together for a long time," Jing said.
The 43-year-old Liu Wang will take charge of the key manual docking between the spacecraft and the Tiangong module.
Liu Yang is expected to boost the mission crew's working efficiency, Wu said. "Generally speaking, female astronauts have better durability, psychological stability and ability to deal with loneliness," she said.
China has taken "full measures" to protect the health of the three astronauts, Wu said.
Equipment like a bicycle ergometer, chest developer and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on board will protect the astronauts against the effects of weightlessness and maintain their cardiac and muscular functions.
Meanwhile, the female astronaut will receive appropriate attention in medical examinations and exercises, and both space program design and onboard care arrangements have taken into consideration having a woman aboard, Wu added.
But Wu also noted that despite all these measures, the astronauts are likely to suffer some ill effects from weightless flight, and they will still need time to readapt to Earth's gravity.
Wu said the capsule would first dock by remote control, then later separate and dock again manually, to prepare the technology for a permanent space station.
The mission is meant to prepare for a space station around 2020. When building a space station, components will be sent into space separately before being assembled using a variety of docking procedures.
China first launched a man into space in 2003, followed by a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk.
Liu Yang, a 34-year-old air force pilot, will join two other astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft when it lifts off at 6:37pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest Gansu Province.
The spacecraft will attempt a manned docking for the first time with the bus-sized Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace" module now orbiting at 343 kilometers above the Earth.
"After the docking, astronauts will enter and live in the Tiangong-1 and carry on experiments, tests and exercises, but they will dine in the spacecraft," Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, told a press conference at the center yesterday.
The three astronauts will mainly perform medical tests on the effect of weightlessness on the human body, as well as other scientific and engineering tasks on Tiangong, which was put into orbit in September.
Two will live and work inside the module to test its life-support systems while the third will remain in the capsule to deal with any emergency.
Wu said the mission will last more than 10 days before the astronauts return to Earth in the capsule, landing on western Chinese grasslands with the help of parachutes.
The astronauts - Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang - made their public debut yesterday at the center.
They dressed in blue uniforms and were isolated in a glass room from the journalists to avoid any possible exposure to infection before the launch.
Liu Yang mainly will take charge of the medical experiments during the mission.
Joining Liu is veteran astronaut and mission commander Jing and newcomer Liu Wang, both air force senior colonels.
Jing, 46, was one of the three of Shenzhou-7 taikonauts, or Chinese astronauts, who orbited the Earth for three days in 2008.
"We can understand each other by a mere eye contact or expression now as we have been training together for a long time," Jing said.
The 43-year-old Liu Wang will take charge of the key manual docking between the spacecraft and the Tiangong module.
Liu Yang is expected to boost the mission crew's working efficiency, Wu said. "Generally speaking, female astronauts have better durability, psychological stability and ability to deal with loneliness," she said.
China has taken "full measures" to protect the health of the three astronauts, Wu said.
Equipment like a bicycle ergometer, chest developer and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on board will protect the astronauts against the effects of weightlessness and maintain their cardiac and muscular functions.
Meanwhile, the female astronaut will receive appropriate attention in medical examinations and exercises, and both space program design and onboard care arrangements have taken into consideration having a woman aboard, Wu added.
But Wu also noted that despite all these measures, the astronauts are likely to suffer some ill effects from weightless flight, and they will still need time to readapt to Earth's gravity.
Wu said the capsule would first dock by remote control, then later separate and dock again manually, to prepare the technology for a permanent space station.
The mission is meant to prepare for a space station around 2020. When building a space station, components will be sent into space separately before being assembled using a variety of docking procedures.
China first launched a man into space in 2003, followed by a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk.
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