At 6:12 PM Baikonour time (1212 GMT) on December 19, Expedition 34 Flight Engineers Tom Marshburn, Roman Romanenko, and Chris Hadfield launched aboard their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft from Kazakhstan. The launch went off without a hitch and the crew will spend the next two days travelling to the International Space Station, where their three crewmates – Commander Kevin Ford and [...]
Post Tagged with: “China”
China’s Chang’e 2 Flies by Toutatis
China became the fourth entity capable of observing an asteroid close-up when its lunar probe Chang’e 2 flew within 3.2 km of Toutais at a relative velocity of 10.73 km/s on December 15. “The success of the extended missions also embodies that China now possesses spacecraft capable of interplanetary flight,” said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar probe program. The [...]
Heading for the Moon
The time for lunar exploration and exploitation has arrived. That seems to be the consensus of the industrialized world, as organization after organization steps up to announce its grand plans for getting humanity back to the Moon. Russia, China, and India all have plans – closer to wishes at this stage – to send their people to the Moon. NASA, [...]
Shenzhou-10 to Fly in June 2013
On November 10, the deputy commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program indicated the timing for the country’s next crewed launch. Niu Hongguang told China National Radio that the flight of Shenzhou-10 would take place in June 2013. Hongguang sees the upcoming mission as a precursor to construction of a space lab and a space station. Shenzou-10 will supply the prototype space lab Tiangong-1 and [...]
Pakistan to have Functioning Global Navigational Satellite System by June 2013
Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is set to receive a new global navigation satellite system (GNSS) with the assistance of China. China, who is a strategic partner of Pakistan, will provide satellites similar to the Beidou satellite system currently being deployed as part of China’s indigenous global positioning system. While there are not many details surrounding Pakistan’s [...]
China’s Bediou Satellite Navigation System Soon to Offer Regional Service
China’s plan to launch the 16th satellite of the Bediou constellation this month will usher in the capability for the navigation system to begin providing free civilian navigation services in the Asia-Pacific region beginning in early 2013. There are currently fifteen satellites in orbit with five launched so far in 2012. The current constellation of satellites consists of five in [...]
ESA Considers Launching Astronauts on Chinese Spacecraft
The European Space Agency (ESA) is considering a possible cooperation with China on human space missions by the end of this decade, says the head of the European Human Space Flight and Operations Directorate, and former German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter. “I would welcome a European astronaut flying aboard a Chinese spaceship,” said Thomas Reiter to The Associated Press. He [...]
Chinese Use Space Radiation to Mutate Food Crops
Exposure to radiation is one of the well-studied hazards of spaceflight. But what if you could turn that hazard to advantage? That’s what China has attempted to do by sending plant seeds to space, then cultivating the resultant mutations. In early experiments begun in 1987 Jiang Xingcun, a scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered that spaceflight can increase [...]
Sri Lanka’s First Space Academy to be Created with Chinese Support
Taking advantage of Chinese technical assistance offered by Sino Satellite Communications Company Ltd (SinoSAT) and China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), the Sri Lankan company Supreme Satellite Private Ltd (SupremeSAT) just signed a joint agreement for the establishment of a first ever Sri Lankan Space Academy. “I am very glad that this venture coincides with the vision of the President [...]
China to Land on Moon in 2013
On July 30, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported that the country will launch its third lunar probe in 2013. Unlike the prior two probes, this one is intended to land on the lunar surface. China’s space program has been developing rapidly. Just this week, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) performed a a test fire of its new heavy [...]
