Fwd: Shenzhou 10 News

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From: "Robert Hooi" <rwlh21@sbcglobal.net>
Date: June 10, 2013 8:28:53 PM GMT-06:00
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: Fw: Shenzhou 10 News

 

 

 

 

What's New for Shenzhou 10
by Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jun 09, 2013

illustration only

The imminent launch of Shenzhou 10 has caught the attention of spacewatchers. As its number indicates, this is hardly the first launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft, which has now chalked up well over a decade of flights. Now that China has so much experience in spaceflight, it's worth asking what's new about this upcoming mission.

This tenth launch of Shenzhou is China's fifth crewed space mission. Shenzhous 5, 6, 7 and 9 all carried astronauts into space. Shenzhou's other missions (1,2,3,4 and 8) were flown without anyone on board, and were largely aimed at testing the vehicle. Shenzhou has undergone revisions to its design throughout its lifetime, as different features have been interchanged for different missions.

Since Shenzhou 8, China has settled on a "standard" design for the spacecraft that features a docking system at its front, and a single set of solar panels on the instrument module at the spacecraft's rear. The third launch of a "standard" Shenzhou is noteworthy, as it suggests that this configuration of the spacecraft is performing well.

China has not delayed the launch to fix any major technical problems and has not spoken of any issues with the design and construction of the spacecraft. In fact, the Chinese media have repeatedly suggested that they are happy with its performance.

Thus, it seems unlikely that China will perform any more uncrewed test flights of this vehicle in the foreseeable future, and we have reached another milestone in the program. The number of crewed missions will now match the number of tests flights.

The mission of Shenzhou 10 will repeat most of the basic operations carried out by the Shenzhou 9 mission, and will carry out a docking with the Tiangong 1 space laboratory. In this regard, Shenzhou 10 will become the first mission to essentially mimic its predecessor.

Previous crewed Shenzhou missions have differed wildly in terms of crew size, mission length and mission objectives. The consistency of these two missions is another sign that the program is maturing and becoming more routine.

This will be China's longest space mission to date, and Shenzhou 10 is expected to stay in orbit for around 15 days, with roughly 12 days spent docked at Tiangong 1. The availability of extra cabin space, gear and logistics on board the Tiangong 1 laboratory helps to make this extended mission possible.

Additional supplies carried on board Shenzhou 10 itself will allow its crew to live in space for even longer than the astronauts on Shenzhou 9, who carried out the first crew expedition to Tiangong 1 in 2012.

We also expect Shenzhou 10 to carry out the most tricky on-orbit operations ever performed by a Shenzhou spacecraft. The spacecraft is expected to test different angles of approach to its docking with Tiangong, and will also fly in close formation to allow a photographic survey of the module. This will require careful control and navigation.

One additional factor on Earth is also worth noting. Shenzhou 10 is the first high-profile space launch to fly since Xi Jinping assumed the Presidency of China. Sinologists will be watching his activities during the mission to possibly glean clues about his leadership, although any such evidence will probably be speculative.

Mr Xi kept his cards fairly close to his chest before assuming the Presidency. Months after his ascendancy, Sinologists are still trying to work him out. Even the recent "summit" with US President Obama has been cryptic to decode for external observers.

More participation in the Shenzhou 10 mission by Mr Xi could lead to some interesting theories. It could suggest that China's new leadership intends to promote the space program more heavily to boost faith in the Chinese Communist Party, or shine some glory on Mr Xi himself. Exactly how Shenzhou 10 is promoted by officialdom and China's state-run media will test this suggestion.

There was relatively little reportage on the mission in the weeks leading up to the launch of Shenzhou 10, causing this analyst to suspect that some sort of policy change had been enacted. Will the code of silence change as the mission progresses?

This leads to another issue. Will China promote the mission more heavily to the international media in China itself? Gaining access to China's space program has always been notoriously difficult for foreign journalists. At one stage, China seemed to be opening up a bit more when the Shenzhou 7 spacewalk mission was launched, and a special media centre for foreign journalists was established.

There seemed to be a slight retreat from such openness for the missions that followed, and this Sydney-based analyst found himself answering questions from foreign correspondents in China who were stonewalled by local officials! So far, China has proven to be no more open to the international media for Shenzhou 10 than in the past, and once again, journalists in Bejing are contacting this writer.

There's another reason to savour the flight of Shenzhou 10. This will be the last Chinese human space mission for quite some time. We have been spoiled recently with the flight of Shenzhou 9 in 2012, followed by another human space mission this year. This is a very brisk rate of launches for China, where gaps of at least two years, and more commonly around three years, have appeared between astronaut missions.

China will not launch any more crews to the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, and will go quiet on human spaceflight for a while. The next sequence of Shenzhou missions is expected to fly to the Tiangong 2 laboratory, which itself will probably not be launched until around 2015 or possibly later. The gap between the flight of Shenzhou 10 and Shenzhou 11 could ultimately prove to be the longest hiatus in Chinese human spaceflight to date! So enjoy the fun while it lasts.

Dr Morris Jones is an Australian space analyst who has covered the Shenzhou program for spacedaily.com since 1999. Email morrisjonesNOSPAMhotmail.com. Replace NOSPAM with @ to send email. Dr Jones will answer media inquiries.

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China to launch Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft on June 11

 

English.news.cn   2013-06-10 15:10:33

 

China's manned space program spokeswoman Wu Ping introduces the launch of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, June 10, 2013. The Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft will be launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:38 p.m. Beijing Time (0938 GMT) June 11. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

JIUQUAN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft will be launched at 5:38 p.m. Tuesday, said China's manned space program spokeswoman on Monday.

The spacecraft will take three astronauts, two male and one female, into the space, said Wu Ping, the program's spokeswoman, at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

They are Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping who is female, Wu said.

Wang, from a farmer's family in east China, is the second female astronaut in China's manned space mission and the first one born in the 1980s.

The spacecraft will travel in the space for 15 days and go through two docking tests with the orbiting space lab module Tiangong-1, one automatic and the other manual, Wu said.

Besides medical and technical tests, astronauts will give a lecture to a group of students on the ground inside the Tiangong-1, introducing the weightless condition, Wu said.

The Tiangong-1 space lab has been in a stable condition and ready for docking tests and receiving astronauts, she said.

"The launch ground and all control systems are ready. Astronauts are in good and stable condition," she said.

The upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket has been fueled since Monday afternoon, Wu said.

This mission aims to further test technologies of docking and supporting astronauts' stay in space and try new technologies related to the construction of space station, she said.

Food for astronauts, as well as waste processing facilities, will be improved, she said.

 

Copyright ©2013 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.

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Shenzhou-10 mission to teach students in orbit

 

English.news.cn   2013-06-10 15:17:45

 

China's manned space program spokeswoman Wu Ping introduces the launch of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, June 10, 2013. The Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft will be launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:38 p.m. Beijing Time (0938 GMT) June 11. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

JIUQUAN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Astronauts on board the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft will teach students through a live video feed system while in orbit, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, said Monday.

It is the first time Chinese astronauts will give a lesson to middle and elementary school students while in orbit, Wu told a press conference ahead of the launch, which is scheduled for 5:38 p.m. Beijing Time Tuesday.

Wang Yaping, the only female in the three-astronaut crew, will be China's first teacher in space. Wang will teach about motion in a microgravity environment, surface tension of liquid, and help students understand weight, mass and Newton's Laws, said Wu.

Wang will also demonstrate while lecturing in orbit, and interact with students and teachers on Earth.

The lesson is aimed at making space more popular, as well as inspire enthusiasm for the universe and science, Wu said, adding that systematic and thorough plans have been made for the lesson in coordination with the Ministry of Education, the China Association for Science and Technology, and China Central Television.

Course materials, teaching aids and a classroom for the lesson have been prepared, while Wang has had relevant training sessions.

Wu said the time of the lesson will be decided according to the mission's schedule, and technical conditions during the assembly of the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft and Tiangong-1, a target orbiter and space module.

The world's first teacher in space was Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old middle school teacher from the United States, but the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated after 73 seconds into flight on Jan. 28, 1986. McAuliffe and other six crew members were killed.

Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe's backup in that mission who became an astronaut later, completed the teaching lesson in space in 2007, when she was sent into the International Space Station with Space Shuttle Endeavor. Via a video feed, she showed students how to exercise and drink water in space.

The 33-year-old Wang is from east China's Shandong Province, the hometown of China's most famous educationist Confucius. She was a transport aircraft pilot in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force with experience of 1,600 hours of flying.

Wang took part in missions including disaster relief after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China in May 2008, and clearing rain clouds before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Wang will be responsible in this mission for monitoring the conditions of the spacecraft, space experiments, operation of equipment and taking care of fellow crew members.

 

Copyright ©2013 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.

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Tiangong-1 ready for docking and entry: spokeswoman

 

English.news.cn   2013-06-10 16:11:30

 

A press conference to brief on the launch of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft is held by China's space program headquarters at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, June 10, 2013. The Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft will be launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:38 p.m. Beijing Time (0938 GMT) June 11. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin)

JIUQUAN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Orbiter Tiangong-1 is ready and in position for the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft mission, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, said Monday.

The Tiangong-1, a target orbiter and space module sent to space in September 2011, has entered the docking orbit. And its equipment is in normal condition and there is enough fuel to complete the new mission, Wu said.

The orbiter is ready for astronauts' admission and other missions of Shenzhou-10, she told a press conference.

According to the schedule of the upcoming mission, Shenzhou-10 will dock with Tiangong-1 with automatic and manual operations, where astronauts will conduct space science experiments and offer lessons to students on Earth.

Tiangong-1 has been in space for about 620 days and been visited by Shenzhou-8 and Shenzhou-9 spaceships, respectively in 2011 and 2012.

Experiments and tests have been carried out on Tiangong-1 since it was sent into space, Wu said, adding that China has acquired valuable data regarding land and resources survey, forestry, oceanic and urban environment monitoring.

The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 5:38 p.m. Beijing Time Tuesday. It will carry three astronauts including one female. 

Copyright ©2013 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.

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Rescue, safeguard work for Shenzhou-10 mission in motion

(CNTV)

15:29, June 10, 2013

Rescue and safeguard efforts for the Shenzhou-10 mission are now in motion. The ceremony for initiating the efforts has been held in Shanghai's Waigaoqiao dock. Rescue ship No. 101 and No. 112 have set off from here to join others.

A network on the sea has been set up. It aims to search and collect fragments that fall off from the spaceship, and to search emergency returning capsule and rescue astronauts inside if any accident occurs.

The network starts from East China's Jiangsu Province all the way to the the island of Guam in West Pacific, stretching 2,400 nautical miles. The Rescue Bureau of the East China Sea has been in charge of the safeguard work from Shenzhou-Seven to Shenzhou-Nine missions.

（Editor：WangXin、Wang Jinxue）

Copyright ©2013 by People's Daily . All rights reserved.

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