
A February look at China’s Shenzhou-11 piloted spacecraft in testing.
Credit: CCTV/framegrab via GBTimes.
China’s next piloted space mission is progressing forward. Space engineers are final checking the Tiangong-2, the country’s space lab that reportedly will be rocketed into orbit this September.
Meanwhile, the still unnamed two-person crew for the Shenzhou-11 mission is in training for their October liftoff.
The booster for their fight, the Long March 2F launch vehicle, has passed assessment testing to support the Shenzhou-11 flight.
As a target space lab, Tiangong-2 and the Shenzhou-11 crew will latch up for an expected 30-day stay in Earth orbit.
Capacity expanded
“We plan to complete the medium-term stay mission in the space lab. It also involves a manned spacecraft, which will carry life necessities of the astronauts, thus capacity of Tiangong-2 were much expanded,” explains Zhu Congpeng, chief designer of spacelab systems for China’s manned space engineering project.
Tiangong-2 carries much more new equipment than its predecessor space lab, Tiangong-1. This next vehicle will test gear needed to build China’s larger space station, the core module of which is headed for launch in 2018.
“We also installed a mechanical arm that will carry out automatic repair outside of the space lab,” Zhu said.
Propellant resupply
A total of 14 experiments will be carried out in Tiangong-2, and most of relevant technologies will be used on application satellites, said Zhao Guangheng, chief designer of space application systems for China’s manned space engineering project.
In a milestone for China’s space program, a space cargo ship — Tianzhou-1 — is slated for liftoff in the first half of next year. Once Tiangong-2 and the unpiloted cargo craft are docked on-orbit, a propellant resupply of the space lab is scheduled.
Check out this video that shows Chinese designers busy testing Tiangong-2 for its upcoming space mission.
Go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEQLzgLtDaU
Shenzhou 11’s crew is slated for a 30-days stay on Tiangong 2, so their flight should be about 32d 6h 16m or 34d 5h 19m
long, assuming a similar altitude and flight profile as the missions to Tiangong 1.
Thanks Phil!
LD