Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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October 22nd, 2021
Lander and Zhurong Mars rover.
Credit: CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Following Earth-Mars solar conjunction, China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter has resumed communications, ready to re-start remote sensing of the Red Planet in early November,
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Friday that the orbiter was in normal condition during the solar conjunction, successfully surviving the conjunction.
CNSA stated that the orbiter will enter a remote-sensing orbit of Mars in early November to carry out global detection and obtain scientific data. The Tianwen-1 orbiter will scope out morphology and geological structure, surface material composition and soil type distribution on Mars, and also gauge the atmospheric ionosphere, and space environment of the planet.
Tianwen-1.
Credit: CNSA
Rover duties
Furthermore, the Mars-circling craft is ready to relay communication between the Zhurong rover and Earth for extended mission duties, according to Zhang Rongqiao, the Tianwen-1 mission’s chief designer.
Mission controllers have reestablished their tracking, communication and control of the orbiter and rover, which had been in normal condition during the recent “Sun outage” period that started in mid-September.
China’s Zhurong rover.
Credit: Liang Ding, et al.
China’s Zhurong rover is slated to continue its travels south toward an ancient coastal area within its exploration zone of Utopia Planitia. Prior to the suspension of its rolling over the Red Planet, Zhurong had traveled nearly 3,609 feet (1,100 meters) on the Martian surface and was in good condition with sufficient energy, Zhang said.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space Screengrab
Safe mode
Due to solar conjunction, the wheeled rover and orbiter were put into “safe mode,” pausing their tasks and autonomously carried out health assessments, self-monitoring and troubleshooting.
Tianwen-1 was launched on July 23, 2020 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, entering Martian orbit on February 10, 2021. Zhurong touched down on the planet on May 15, driving off its landing platform the following week.
Once in operation, Zhurong joins two NASA rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, as well as the NASA InSight lander, to continue their respective Mars exploration agendas.
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Artistic rendering illustrates large asteroids penetrating Earth’s oxygen-poor atmosphere.
Credit: SwRI/Dan Durda, Simone Marchi
It is a messy business – asteroid bombardment of the Earth.
The Earth was a “full stop” planet to a substantial number of large impacts throughout the late Archean era. Around 2.4 billion years ago, during the tail end of this bombardment, the Earth went through a major shift in surface chemistry triggered by the rise of atmospheric oxygen, dubbed the Great Oxidation Event (GOE).
A team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has updated its asteroid bombardment model of the Earth with the latest geologic evidence of ancient, large collisions.
These new findings correspond to the geological record, which shows that oxygen levels in the atmosphere varied but stayed relatively low in the early Archean eon.
SwRI-led study updated bombardment models based on small glassy particles, known as impact spherules, that populate multiple thin, discrete layers in the Earth’s crust, ranging in age from about 2.4 to 3.5 billion years old. Spherule layers — such as the one shown in this 5-centimeter, 2.6-billion-year-old sample from Australia — are markers of ancient collisions.
Credit: UCLA/Scott Hassler and Oberlin/Bruce Simonson
Oxygen scarcity
Impacts by bodies larger than six miles (10 kilometers) in diameter may have contributed to its scarcity, as limited oxygen present in the atmosphere of early Earth would have been chemically consumed by impact vapors, further reducing its abundance in the atmosphere, according to a SwRI statement.
“Impact vapors caused episodic low oxygen levels for large spans of time preceding the GOE,” said SwRI’s Simone Marchi, lead author of a paper about this research in Nature Geoscience. “As time went on, collisions become progressively less frequent and too small to be able to significantly alter post-GOE oxygen levels. The Earth was on its course to become the current planet.”
Droplets of molten rocks
When large asteroids or comets struck early Earth, the energy released melted and vaporized rocky materials in the Earth’s crust.
Small droplets of molten rock in the impact plume would condense, solidify and fall back to Earth, creating round, globally distributed sand-size particles.
Known as impact spherules, these glassy particles populated multiple thin, discrete layers in the Earth’s crust, ranging in age from about 2.4 to 3.5 billion years old. These Archean spherule layers are markers of ancient collisions.
Credit: NASA
Free oxygen
Nadja Drabon, a Harvard assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences, was part of a team that analyzed remnants of ancient asteroids and modeled the effects of their collisions to show that the strikes took place more often than previously thought and may have delayed when oxygen started accumulating on the planet.
The new models can help scientists understand more precisely when the planet started its path toward becoming the Earth we know today.
“Free oxygen in the atmosphere is critical for any living being that uses respiration to produce energy,” Drabon said in a Harvard statement. “Without the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere we would probably not exist.”
To access the new paper – “Delayed and variable late Archaean atmospheric oxidation due to high collision rates on Earth,” go to:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00835-9
Also, go to this SwRI press release —
“SwRI-led team produces a new Earth bombardment model – New model applied to understand how oxygen levels in Earth’s atmosphere evolved,” at:
https://www.swri.org/press-release/swri-led-team-produces-new-earth-bombardment-model
Credit: Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“International Collaboration and Competition in Space: Oversight of NASA’s Role and Programs” is being held today by the Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science.
Live video at: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/
Range of topics
The United States has long been the global leader in space exploration and has benefitted from robust, peaceful international collaboration. This hearing will examine required actions, particularly at NASA, to promote U.S. civil and commercial space sector competitiveness, attract and maintain strong global partnerships, and preserve U.S. space leadership in the wake of rising international competition.
Topics such as International Space Station extension, commercial low-Earth orbit (LEO) development, and requirements to execute NASA’s Artemis program, to include needed updates to authorizing legislation, will be considered.
Witness testimony
Witness Panel 1 testimony available at:
- Jim Bridenstine, Former NASA Administrator
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/4CE62711-708C-493C-A325-E0B845B34372
- Mary Lynne Dittmar, Executive Vice President for Government Affairs, Axiom Space
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/06C46EFB-D05F-4440-AA5F-7128ADBC5F43
- Mike Gold, Executive Vice President for Civil Space and External Affairs, Redwire Space
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/01CD1CE2-384A-4131-92A5-246D3B581498
- Patricia Sanders Chair, NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/127ABA93-9E9C-4C74-83DE-31BEB6CE7768
There is evidence Curiosity drove over this nodule in the high resolution image taken by MAHLI, the hand lens imager that’s located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. Photo produced on October 20, 2021, Sol 3272.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now wrapping up Sol 3273 duties.
The wheeled robot recently drove over nodules, crushing them in the process. Doing so has allowed researchers to see inside these features, reports Susanne Schwenzer, a planetary geologist at The Open University; Milton Keynes in the U.K.
Newly sent images show evidence of the rover drive across a nodule – evidenced by very straight imprinted lines in the middle of flattened areas that appear slightly more grey.
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3273, October 20, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Insight into nodules
“You can also see cracks, especially clearly on the right of the nodule…but if you look around, you’ll find there are more of them,” Schwenzer points out.
“Some of the scratched areas are looking white, too. All those features will allow us an insight into the nodules and an interpretation beyond what we can otherwise see on the surface. As much as the surface can tell us – here we are getting to the heart of those nodules!”
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image acquired on Sol 3273, October 21, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Broken rock feast
In a newly scripted plan, Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) is to look at the wheel-disturbed rocks with a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) observation on target ‘Picardy Stone’ and with a passive spectral observation on target ‘Pollock.’
Curiosity Rear Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B photo taken on Sol 3273, October 21, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Mastcam is joining the broken rock feast,” Schwenzer adds, with a multispectral observation on an area named ‘Acadian,’ which is also investigated by the robot’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3273, October 20, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Dune feature
“Last but not least, a dune feature, now named ‘Longhill,’ receives some attention with a Mastcam mosaic to further study the dunes on Mars,” Schwenzer notes.
“While dunes can tell us a lot about both current and past wind and climate, there is also atmospheric monitoring in the plan to document the current conditions around the rover adding to our cadence of images to assess dust levels in the atmosphere – and our dust devil searches.”
And, of course, the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) is sending its daily weather report, and on top of all the atmospheric science possible with those long-term datasets, researchers enjoy knowing what temperature it is on Mars.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3273, October 20, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Drive in the plan
“There is a drive in the plan that should set us up nicely for some more investigations of this interesting area,” Schwenzer reports.
Images after the drive will give scientists first insights, and ChemCam gets a head start on the chemistry through an AEGIS observation.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3273, October 21, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
AEGIS stands for Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) – a software suite that permits the rover to autonomously detect and prioritize targets.
Credit: National Academy of Sciences
The purpose of the October 20, 2021 hearing is to understand the opportunities and challenges of space nuclear propulsion for enabling deep space exploration, examine the status of NASA’s R&D activities and plans for space nuclear propulsion, and to consider government and industry contributions to and collaboration on advancing space nuclear propulsion, among other issues.
Hearing charter:
Online via videoconferencing at:
https://science.house.gov/hearings/accelerating-deep-space-travel-with-space-nuclear-propulsion
Witness testimony:
Roger M. Myers, Co-Chair, Committee on Space Nuclear Propulsion Technologies, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
https://science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Meyers%20Testimony1.pdf
Bhavya Lal, Senior Advisor for Budget and Finance, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
https://science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Lal%20Testimony2.pdf
Greg Meholic, Senior Project Leader, The Aerospace Corporation
https://science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Meholic%20Testimony.pdf
Michael French, Vice President, Space Systems, Aerospace Industries Association
https://science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/French%20Testimony1.pdf
Franklin Chang-Diaz, Founder and CEO, Ad Astra Rocket Company
https://science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Chang%20Diaz%20Testimony.pdf
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Moon rock and regolith brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 lunar sample mission suggests that the samples are a new type of lunar basalt, different from those collected during previous U.S. Apollo and former Soviet Union robotic Luna missions.
The first batch of lunar soil samples were sent to 31 labs of 13 Chinese research institutions last July. Chinese researchers analyzing the lunar collectibles report they have dated the youngest rock on the Moon at around 2 billion years in age, extending the “life” of lunar volcanism 800-900 million years longer than previously known.
China’s Chang’e-5 probe returned to Earth on December 17, 2020, parachuting back a total of around 1.73 kilograms of lunar samples.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Magmatic history
A research team analyzed more than 50 uranium-rich rock fragments extracted from lunar basalt and dated the youngest rock on the Moon at about 2 billion years old. Previously, the youngest dated rock from the Apollo and Luna missions and lunar meteorites was around 2.8-2.9 billion years old.
According to Ouyang Ziyuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Moon formed 4.5 billion years ago and magmatic activities were not recorded in the lunar mantle until around 4 billion years ago.
“There were no magmatic activities recorded in the lunar mantle from 3 billion years ago until now. There are two issues concerning the history of the Moon,” Ouyang said via China Central Television (CCTV). “We are not clear about its history before 4 billion years ago and after 3 billion years ago. How we can make breakthrough to restore the true evolution history of the Moon is an important task of scientists. I think it is quite an achievement to extend the history of magmatic activities from 3 billion years ago to 2 billion years ago,” he added.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Interesting phenomenon
Li Xianhua, another CAS academician, told CCTV:
“Ascertaining this age correctly is very important for another dating technique by using impact craters. Using this method, we can date other regions where the lander cannot reach and other planets in the solar system. The age is the most basic parameter for us to know an object, a planet,” said Li.
Triggers of the latest volcanic activities on the Moon have always been a mystery. There are now two possible explanations among the scientific community.
- The magmatic source was rich in radioactive heat production elements that could provide heat source for melting magma in the Moon’s mantle and drive eruptions.
- The low melting point of the lunar mantle due to high water content resulted in a prolonged duration of volcanic activities.
However, studies of the Chang’e-5 specimens show that the samples are not rich in hot radioactive elements and are exceptionally dry.
Photo taking during surface sampling.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“There are neither so many radioactive elements nor water, so what triggered the melting becomes an interesting issue. So we will continue to study this interesting phenomenon,” Li said.
China/France cooperation
According to Ecns.cn — the official English-language website of China News Service (CNS) — the Chinese Academy of Sciences has reached initial consensus with the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and French National Centre for Scientific Research a joint research initiative to study lunar samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 mission, Academy officials said at press conference Tuesday.
China and France will carry out complementary cooperation in the form of personnel exchanges and joint research projects, according to Ecns.cn in detailing the conference.
Video & published papers
Go to these videos focused on lunar sample studies, at:
To view a set of research articles by Chinese lunar experts, published October 19, 2021 in Nature, go to:
“Non-KREEP origin for Chang’E-5 basalts in the Procellarum KREEP Terrane,” at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04119-5
“A dry lunar mantle reservoir for young mare basalts of Chang’E-5,” at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04107-9
“Two billion-year-old volcanism on the Moon from Chang’E-5 basalts,” at:
The triangular shaped rock in the immediate foreground contains the crushed nodule targets “Helmsdale Boulder Beds” and the “Crovie” bedrock target. In the background, the slope is covered with grey float blocks similar to those being imaged by Mastcam. The pediment-capping rock is at the top of the image, just right of center.
This image was taken by Curiosity’s Front Hazard Avoidance Camera on Sol 3270, October 17, 2021
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3272 duties.
The Red Planet robot is back in gear, following a few weeks of hibernation, reports Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
“Curiosity went into hibernation for a few weeks, executing only routine environmental and radiation monitoring activities, while the Sun was positioned between us and Mars (conjunction),” Thompson notes. October 18 was a first day of planning since Mars has emerged from behind the Sun.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B photo acquired on Sol 3271, October 18, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Healthy status
“Curiosity is healthy after her rest, and we wasted no time planning a multitude of science activities,” Thompson adds.
Prior to conjunction, Curiosity drove away from the Maria Gordon drill site to an area nearby that contained large (roughly 6-7 centimeters across) resistant nodules (“Helmsdale Boulder Beds”).
“We deliberately drove over the nodules to crush them and expose their fresh interiors for examination by a number of the science instruments,” Thompson explains. “The team is interested in determining the chemistry of the nodules relative to the flat bedrock. Why are they resistant? How does their composition compare to other nodules previously encountered, and what might this tell us about fluids that were present in these rocks?”
The workspace imaging that came down to Earth confirmed that Curiosity had successfully broken some of the nodules, such that researchers were able to make several observations just before conjunction. But they were not able to use the arm mounted APXS and MAHLI instruments; we did not want the arm left out over conjunction.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3271, October 18, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Bedrock target
Today, we took advantage of pre-planning prior to conjunction to acquire Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images on the crushed “Helmsdale Boulder Beds.”
MAHLI is to image another fresh-looking nodule, “Goose Stone.” These observations will be complemented with Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) measurements and Mastcam images on the same crushed “Helmsdale Boulder Beds” target and the “Crovie” bedrock target.
Curiosity Rear Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B photo acquired on Sol 3271, October 18, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Pediment-capping rock
Looking further afield, Thompson reports, Curiosity will image resistant, pediment-capping rock in the distance with the ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) and Mastcam.
“The pediment is a gently sloping surface that appears to cut across the underlying rocks that we are currently driving over. Mastcam will also image some grey float rocks that may be derived from those pediment-capping rocks,” Thompson says.
Also on tap is uplinking several environmental observations including Mastcam images “to detect changes in the unconsolidated sediment and wind activity while Curiosity has been parked in the same location for the last few weeks. Atmospheric observations are also planned to look for dust devils and to measure the opacity of the atmosphere.”
Note: It also appears that NASA’s Mars Insight lander and the NASA Perseverance rover have begun relaying post-conjunction imagery. Still awaiting word on China’s Zhurong rover.
Credit: Korean Aerospace Research Institute
A focused investigation of the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions is an objective of South Korea’s first Moon mission, the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter under the wing of the Korean Aerospace Research Institute in Daejeon, Korea.
Scheduled for an August 2022 lunar sendoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 booster, the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) will conduct its exploration mission for one year, supporting the NASA Artemis program by measuring the existence of water or resources and topographic characteristics of candidate landing sites for “rebooting” the Moon with human crews.
KPLO carries six science instruments; five instruments from South Korea and one from NASA:
- Lunar Terrain Imager
- Wide-Angle Polarimetric Camera
- KPLO Magnetometer
- KPLO Gamma Ray Spectrometer
- Delay-Tolerant Networking experiment
A recent and major milestone for the KPLO effort was installation on the spacecraft of the NASA-contributed ShadowCam.
Credit: Korean Aerospace Research Institute/KARI TV
Permanently shadowed regions
ShadowCam will investigate the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) that will provide critical information about the distribution and accessibility of volatiles in PSRs at spatial scales required to both mitigate risks and maximize the results of future exploration activities.
ShadowCam instrument being lifted for mounting to the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter satellite at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute in Daejeon, Korea.
Credit: Courtesy KARI
Explains Mark Robinson, ShadowCam’s principal investigator at Arizona State University, the instrument is based on the successful Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) and will be over 100 times more sensitive (altitude dependent) than the current NAC.
ShadowCam’s science objectives include searching for deposits of frost and ice and find out whether high-purity ice or rocky deposits are present inside PSRs.
KPLO spacecraft being lifted off the floor by its mounting ring at KARI.
Credit: Courtesy Mark Robinson, ASU/KARI
Manufactured and provided by the U.S., NASA’s ShadowCam is a high-precision camera playing the role of viewing permanent shadow areas that sunlight cannot reach such as craters located in the north and south poles of the Moon.
If available, processed ice resources could yield oxygen, water, and rocket fuel to be utilized by future lunar expeditions.
Credit: GLOBALink/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The new arrivals at China’s space station construction site are busy at work at the start of their projected six-month stay.
The Shenzhou-13 crew has opened the hatch of the Tianzhou-3 cargo craft, transferring hardware and life-sustaining supplies. The space trio of Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and space rookie, Ye Guangfu, will also open the hatch of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft.
On the near-term agenda is conducting two to three extra-vehicular activities and scientific research. Wang Yaping, the only female astronaut of the crew, will carry out a spacewalk, as well as perform science education work. It will be the second time for her to broadcast a live lecture in space. During her Shenzhou-10 flight in 2013, she reached an audience of over 60 million schoolchildren.
“Apart from experiments, we also hope to do more space science education, to let the public have closer contact with space. We hope the public can know our space, our life, as well as the miraculous feeling in space. These are the things we hope to do,” said Wang told China Central Television (CCTV) prior to the Shenzhou-13 launch.
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Priority work
Following liftoff of the Shenzhou-13 spaceship atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket early Saturday morning, the taikonauts completed a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe core module, forming a complex together with the already docked Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3 supply ships.
Current configuration of China’s space facility.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The three Chinese astronauts aboard Shenzhou-13 spaceship still have more adjusting and setting work to do after entering China’s space station.
In an interview with CCTV, Yang Liwei, China’s first astronaut, said the priority work of the astronauts after entering the core module is to make adjustments and settings related to their living. Yang is also the deputy chief designer of China’s manned space program.
Yang said the astronauts have been well prepared for long-time work in space. They also brought to space some leisure products to enrich their life.
“During the on-ground training in the previous period, the astronauts completed a lot of training in both physical and mental reserve, including the psychological compatibility among the three of them,” Yang said. “In addition to professional and physical preparation, they also brought with them some spare-time products to space, including their favorite music, books and videos. Therefore, the astronauts’ leisure time will be enriched during the half-year stay, and their working status will be better adjusted as well.”
Credit: GLOBALink/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Next steps
Yang also said the Shenzhou-13 mission is a milestone flight in China’s space station activities.
“After the entire space station is completed next year, it will be operational for more than ten years, which is our current plan. From long-term perspective of manned spaceflight, we will enter deeper far-reaching space,” Yang said. “For example, we are doing demonstration work for our plan of [a] manned Moon landing. I think after the project is approved in the near future, we will see our astronauts go further in the far-reaching space exploration.”
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s evolving Tiangong space station construction plans have been outlined.
Next year, China will conduct six flight missions and dock two experimental modules with the space station’s core module, according to Huang Zhen, deputy chief designer at the China Academy of Space Technology.
“After the completion of the mission by the Shenzhou-13 crew, it will mean that we have finished all of the work for the key technology verification phase and have entered the construction phase of the space station,” Huang told CCTV. “In this phase, we are going to first launch Tianzhou-4 and Shenzhou-14. While the astronauts are still in the core module, we will successively launch Wentian and Mengtian, two large experimental cabins weighing over 20 tons and dock them with the core module to form a ‘T’ structure,” said Huang.
Robotic arm helps on space station construction.
Credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Little “T” and big “T”
The Wentian and Mengtian modules will dock with the core module from the front port. Through the space station’s “position changing mechanism,” one of them will switch to the left side and the other to the right side. The two modules will form a “T” configuration with the core cabin.
“This is why the current ‘T’ is called the little ‘T’, while the ‘T’ composed of the two experimental cabins and the core cabin – three spacecrafts weighing more than 20 tons – is the big ‘T’,” Huang continued.
With the crew of the Shenzhou-14 mission still onboard the space station, China will launch Tianzhou-5 and Shenzhou-15. “It will be the first time our astronauts switch shifts during orbit,” Huang added.
Rolling base
According to Zhang Yan, director of Division No.11 at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, “our mission is conducted on a rolling base. So is the training of our astronauts. For the Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 missions and the third batch of astronauts, we have basically put in place simulators of the core module and two experimental modules and equipment for underwater training, extra-vehicular activity training, and virtual training. We now have the conditions for simulating the missions of Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 and training astronauts.”
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China National Space Administration (CNSA)/United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)/China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Also on tap is the launch of a Chinese space survey telescope. It will co-orbit with the space station for a long-term independent flight. The telescope is designed to conduct space survey observations and stop at the space station for short-term replenishment and maintenance upgrades.
To watch a newly issued set of videos on the Shenzhou-13 mission and future space station construction plans, go to:
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s newest space crew has docked with and then entered the Tiangong space station on Saturday morning, embarking on a six-month stint inside the core module of their “Heavenly Palace.”
Projected to become the longest spaceflight for a Takionaut team, the three-member crew – Shenzhou-13 mission commander Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu — floated into the module, named Tianhe, or “Harmony of Heavens” around three hours after the automated docking of their spacecraft with the space station complex.
Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Shenzhou-13 was launched by a Long March-2F carrier rocket, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gobi Desert at 00:23 local time on Saturday (16:23 GMT on Friday).
Following a 6.5 hour post-launch journey, the crewed spaceship docked with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, thereby forming a complex together with the previously docked Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3 cargo crafts.
Wide range of tasks
The Shenzhou-13 crew is tasked with a wide range of tasks, including: performing two to three spacewalks to install a small robotic arm onto a larger one and verifying key procedures and technologies like manual control of the robotic arms and robotic arm-assisted movement of station modules.
Also, the new crew will check the performance and capability of devices inside the station, and test support instruments for astronauts’ life and work in long-term flights, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), at a news conference on Thursday at the Jiuquan center.
Life saving preparations
Viewed as one of China’s most challenging and sophisticated space endeavors, the Tiangong space station will eventually comprise three main components; the Tianhe core module and two large space labs.
Circling Earth, the complex will then have a combined weight of nearly 70 metric tons. The entire station is set to operate for about 15 years in a low-Earth orbit about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above our planet.
Credit: CGTN/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The mission has also prepared for emergency life saving actions. A Shenzhou-14/ Long March-2F carrier rocket can be launched in quick order to dock with the space station and bring the Taikonaut team back in a timely manner.
While docked, the Shenzhou-13 spaceship will be powered off, but some other systems will keep powering on, ready at all times for an emergency return to the ground.
Credit: CCTV
Radial direction
Rendezvous and docking between the Shenzhou-13 piloted spaceship and the port of the space station core module Tianhe in the radial direction was termed as intricate.
“The difficult point in the rendezvous and docking process in the radial direction mainly lies in control actually,” Jia Shijin, chief designer for the manned spacecraft system of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) told China Central Television (CCTV).
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“The process in the horizontal direction happens only when the spacecraft and the space station are at the same orbital altitude,” Jia said.
The spacecraft should stay upwards if it docks with the space station in the radial direction. “If the spacecraft stays upwards, first, the control scheme of the spacecraft is different from that when it flies in the horizontal direction. So, we have to adjust it. Second, the direction of antenna for measurement and control is also different from that when it flies in the horizontal direction,” Jia added.
Credit: GLOBALink/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Supply craft
China’s uncrewed Tianzhou-3 carried supplies for the Shenzhou-13 crewed mission, and was launched and docked at the rear docking port of Tianhe on September 20.
That supply craft was stuffed with nearly six-tons of goods and materials, including living supplies for the astronauts, one extravehicular spacesuit for back-up, supplies for extravehicular activities, space station platform materials, payloads and propellants.
China’s space station is projected to be completed in late 2022.
Credit: CAST
The Shenzhou-13 trio is the second crew to work on the evolving Chinese space station. Wang Yaping is the first woman astronaut on board the station. She is also slated to perform a spacewalk during the projected six-month cruise.
With additional modules and follow-on crews to come, China anticipates the fully outfitted station to be operational by the end of 2022.
To view newly-released videos focused on the Shenzhou-13 crew and mission, go to:
