China announced that it will launch a new manned space mission between June and August 2013. Three taikonauts will comprise the crew. “The 3 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,” said Zhou Jianping, the head designer of China’s manned space program The crew will [...]
Post Tagged with: “Tiangong-1”
Taikonauts Feeling Good Following Historic Mission
The crew of Shenzhou-9, including China’s first female taikonaut, Liu Yang, had their first public appearance on Friday 13 July, 2012, since returning to Earth. The crew had performed the first Chinese manned space-docking mission, and the first visit of a crew to the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module. Following the 13-day space mission and two week rehabilitation, the trio [...]
Chinese President Hu Jintao Calls Space Lab
Source: Xinhua BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao came to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Tuesday and spoke with astronauts currently implementing the space mission aboard the conjoint Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 orbiter. The President was accompanied by senior leaders Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang. Hu extended his sincere greetings to the [...]
Shenzhou-9 Manual Docking a “Complete Success”
On June 24, six days after successfully executing an automated docking procedure that brought inhabitants to the Chinese space lab Tiangong-1, the Shenzhou-9 successfully withdrew from the station and repeated the performance – this time under manual control. According to Chinese manned space program spokesman Wu Ping, the docking was “a complete success.” “The manual docking was beautifully conducted. It was very [...]
Shenzhou-9: Mission Highlights
Shenzhou-9, which launched on June 16, is only three days into its thirteen day mission but it is already making history. Watch mission highlights, including launching of the first female taikonaut, a crewed docking, and boarding of the first ever Chinese space lab Tiangong-1: Staff WritersMore Posts
Taikonauts Aboard Space Lab After Successful Docking
Shenzhou-9‘s three taikonauts performed a successful automated docking procedure with space lab Tiangong-1 on Monday, June 18. The crew sent live video feed back to Earth as they docked with, then boarded, the space station. The docking procedure, which was identical to that conducted by the unmanned Shenzhou-8 in 2011, was completed in 8 minutes. Three hours later the crew, led by [...]
Shenzhou-9 Has a Crew and Is Ready for Launch
Shenzhou-9 has entered the final phase of preparation for a June 16 launch after successfully completing a full system test on June 13. “The drill’s results met our expectations”, said Niu Hongguang, China’s manned space program commander in chief, to the Xinhua news agency. The spacecraft also has a crew – finally announced on June 15 after months of [...]
Shenzhou-9 Preparing to Put Crew on Chinese Space Station
A report on June 9 from the official Chinese news agency Xinhua indicates that the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft will be launching aboard a Long March-2F rocket in mid-June. The craft will carry a crew of three and will perform the first manned docking with China’s orbital space lab, Tiangong-1. “It means China’s spacecraft will become a genuine manned shuttle tool between [...]
China Announces Ambitious Space Program
China plans to send people to the Moon as part of its new space policy, announced on December 29 in a paper entitled “China’s Space Activities in 2011.” The manned lunar mission is considered to be a symbol that will highlight the status of China as a space power equal to the USA and Russia. The mission would be the first manned lunar mission [...]
Second Shenzhou-Tiangong Docking “Kiss” Successful
The video below describes the series of docking experiments planned for the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft and lab module Tiangong-1. The second experiment was successfully performed on November 14 when Shenzhou-8 undocked and redocked with Tiangong-1. The maneuver is being termed a “Space kiss.” According to Xinhua, Shenzhou-8 is scheduled to undock from Tiangong-1 in 2 days for a return to [...]
