Shenzhou-9 heads toward docking attempt
By Yang Jian |
June 17, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA launched its Shenzhou-9 spacecraft early yesterday evening to send the country's first female astronaut and two male crewmates into space.
The Long March-2F rocket blasted off at 6:37pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest Gansu Province, marking a key step in China's ambitions of becoming the third nation to set up a permanent space station.
All systems functioned normally and just over 10 minutes later Shenzhou-9 opened its solar panels and entered orbit.
Liu Yang, a 34-year-old air force pilot, and the two other astronauts will be in space for 13 days and attempt a manned docking for the first time with the bus-sized Tiangong-1 - "Heavenly Palace" - module orbiting 343 kilometers above the Earth.
Major step forward
A manual docking would demonstrate a grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking know-how and be a major step forward in China's manned space program to build a space station around 2020.
President Hu Jintao congratulated the country's space scientists and astronauts on the successful launch.
He sent a message from Denmark's Copenhagen, where he is paying a state visit.
"I urge you to carry forward the spirit ... and make new contributions to advance the development of our country's manned space mission," Hu said in a statement read to technicians at Jiuquan.
The launch was broadcast live on China Central Television.
A camera recorded the three astronauts in the craft before and after take-off. A red placard with the Chinese character "Fu," a symbol for good fortune, hung above them.
Female astronaut Liu smiled frequently and when a crewmate's pen floated toward her once they were free of gravity, she looked thrilled and hit it back.
Flight leader, 46-year-old Jing Haipeng, occasionally held Liu's hand as a symbol of support.
The third crew member, 43-year-old Liu Wang, who will take charge of the manual docking, was seen reading a guidebook.
"After docking, the astronauts will enter and live in Tiangong-1 and carry out experiments and exercises, but will dine in the spacecraft," Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program said.
If all goes to plan, the capsule will first dock by remote control about two days after launch. Six days later, they will separate and dock again manually, to prepare the technology for a permanent space station.
"I believe that we can achieve this goal, because we already have the basic technological capability," Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China's manned space engineering project, told reporters before the launch.
As well as docking tests, the astronauts will perform medical tests on the effects of weightlessness on the human body, plus other scientific and engineering tasks on Tiangong-1, which was put into orbit in September.
Liu Yang will take charge of the medical experiments.
Two astronauts 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, which is scheduled to land on grasslands in western China, with the help of parachutes. Tiangong-1 will continue orbiting in space for further tests.
The nose cone of the rocket that separated shortly after blast-off fell to Earth in northwest China Shaanxi Province 25 minutes later.
Residents in the area had been temporarily evacuated and traffic control measures put in place to ensure safety.
Two highways and several other roads in the Yulin City of the province were closed three hours ahead of the launch. The controls were lifted 50 minutes after blast-off.
The local government reminded residents to inform the government if they found any debris from the nose cone.
This is China's fourth manned space mission since 2003, when astronaut Yang Liwei became the country's first person in orbit.
The country undertook a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk.
China completed a docking by remote control in November, when the Shenzhou-8 capsule docked with Tiangong-1.
The Long March-2F rocket blasted off at 6:37pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest Gansu Province, marking a key step in China's ambitions of becoming the third nation to set up a permanent space station.
All systems functioned normally and just over 10 minutes later Shenzhou-9 opened its solar panels and entered orbit.
Liu Yang, a 34-year-old air force pilot, and the two other astronauts will be in space for 13 days and attempt a manned docking for the first time with the bus-sized Tiangong-1 - "Heavenly Palace" - module orbiting 343 kilometers above the Earth.
Major step forward
A manual docking would demonstrate a grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking know-how and be a major step forward in China's manned space program to build a space station around 2020.
President Hu Jintao congratulated the country's space scientists and astronauts on the successful launch.
He sent a message from Denmark's Copenhagen, where he is paying a state visit.
"I urge you to carry forward the spirit ... and make new contributions to advance the development of our country's manned space mission," Hu said in a statement read to technicians at Jiuquan.
The launch was broadcast live on China Central Television.
A camera recorded the three astronauts in the craft before and after take-off. A red placard with the Chinese character "Fu," a symbol for good fortune, hung above them.
Female astronaut Liu smiled frequently and when a crewmate's pen floated toward her once they were free of gravity, she looked thrilled and hit it back.
Flight leader, 46-year-old Jing Haipeng, occasionally held Liu's hand as a symbol of support.
The third crew member, 43-year-old Liu Wang, who will take charge of the manual docking, was seen reading a guidebook.
"After docking, the astronauts will enter and live in Tiangong-1 and carry out experiments and exercises, but will dine in the spacecraft," Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program said.
If all goes to plan, the capsule will first dock by remote control about two days after launch. Six days later, they will separate and dock again manually, to prepare the technology for a permanent space station.
"I believe that we can achieve this goal, because we already have the basic technological capability," Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China's manned space engineering project, told reporters before the launch.
As well as docking tests, the astronauts will perform medical tests on the effects of weightlessness on the human body, plus other scientific and engineering tasks on Tiangong-1, which was put into orbit in September.
Liu Yang will take charge of the medical experiments.
Two astronauts 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, which is scheduled to land on grasslands in western China, with the help of parachutes. Tiangong-1 will continue orbiting in space for further tests.
The nose cone of the rocket that separated shortly after blast-off fell to Earth in northwest China Shaanxi Province 25 minutes later.
Residents in the area had been temporarily evacuated and traffic control measures put in place to ensure safety.
Two highways and several other roads in the Yulin City of the province were closed three hours ahead of the launch. The controls were lifted 50 minutes after blast-off.
The local government reminded residents to inform the government if they found any debris from the nose cone.
This is China's fourth manned space mission since 2003, when astronaut Yang Liwei became the country's first person in orbit.
The country undertook a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk.
China completed a docking by remote control in November, when the Shenzhou-8 capsule docked with Tiangong-1.
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