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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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China’s astronauts setting a record for time spent in space
Print Edition
CHINA’S longest manned space mission is well underway, with two astronauts about to spend a month aboard a space laboratory as part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.
Shenzhou-11 blasted off on a Long March rocket at 7:30am yesterday from a launch site in Jiuquan, in the Gobi Desert, in images carried live on state television.
It will dock with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory which was sent into space last month.
The 33-day mission will be the longest period Chinese astronauts have spent in space.
In June 2013, three astronauts spent 15 days in space with the Shenzhou-10 mission, which docked with Tiangong-1, the predecessor of Tiangong-2.
About 19 minutes after yesterday’s lift-off, Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program, declared the launch a success.
President Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations, expressing the hope that “Chinese people will take bigger steps and march further in space, to make a new contribution to the building of China into a space power.”
Commanding the mission is Jing Haipeng, who took part in the Shenzhou-7 and Shenzhou-9 missions, and Chen Dong, who is on his first space mission.
Their rendezvous with Tiangong-2 will happen at an orbit about 393 kilometers above Earth, the same height of the future Chinese space station.
Wu Ping, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, told a press conference on Sunday that Tiangong-2 was in stable condition and would meet the requirements for docking with Shenzhou-11 and accommodating the astronauts.
During their month in the space lab, the astronauts will work eight hours per day, six days a week, the Astronaut Center of China said.
“It is synchronized with the sleep-wake cycle on Earth and marks a transitional design to long-term flight in a space station,” said Huang Weifen, the center’s deputy chief designer.
As the last manned space flight before China’s space station mission, Huang said Shenzhou-11 offers a precious opportunity to verify the technology needed to support astronauts’ life, health and work, as well as to gather data for the space station mission.
The astronauts will have access to almost 100 kinds of food, Huang said, and will exercise using a stationary bike and treadmill.
Zhang Yulin, deputy commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program, said Shenzhou-11 marks the imminent end of the exploratory stage of China’s manned space program. The program will carry out manned space missions on a regular basis with the establishment of its own space station.
China’s proposed space station may become mankind’s only foothold in space when the International Space Station retires in 2024.
Tiangong-2 will remain in orbit after the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft returns to Earth, waiting for docking with Tianzhou-1, China’s first cargo spacecraft to be launched in April 2017, to verify refueling technology, a key technology for any space station.
The mission will be another key step toward China’s dream of building a permanent manned space station.
Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s manned space program, said the space station will be comprised of a core module and two experimental modules, each about 20 tons.
It will accommodate three to six astronauts, Zhou said.
The core module is expected to be launched around 2018, and the space station will enter into full service around 2022.
Zhang Bonan, chief designer of the Shenzhou-11, said China is exploring a new generation of manned spacecraft technology, aiming to lower the cost while ensuring safety and reliability.
“I hope a spacecraft launch will just be ordinary news one day, and more Chinese citizens can embark on space flight, just like traveling by plane,” Zhang said.
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