By 
August 13th, 2016
China’s Shenzhou-11 piloted spacecraft in testing.
Credit: CCTV/framegrab via GBTimes.
Preparations are quickening in China for the country’s next piloted space mission.
Chinese media outlets have noted the arrival of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Saturday, just two months before it carries two astronauts into space for a 30-day mission.
According to China’s Manned Space Engineering (CMSE) office, general assembly and testing of the piloted craft will begin at the center ahead of the launch scheduled for mid-October.
Space lab first
Shenzhou-11 will transport personnel and supplies to China’s second orbiting space lab — Tiangong-2 — which is to be launched in mid-September. Tiangong-2 was delivered to the center in early July and the carrier rockets arrived last week.
China’s Tiangong-2 space lab undergoing checkout for September liftoff.
Credit: CCTV via China Spaceflight
Still unnamed, the Chinese astronauts selected for the mission are both male and have been undergoing intense training, according to CMSE.
Technological renovations
According to Li Bing, chief engineer, testing and launching station at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center:
“This is the first time for us to have two manned spacecraft and two carrier rockets at the launching site at the same time. We have to carry out the maintenance work simultaneously. Up till now our work has been carried out smoothly to ensure the successful accomplishment of the two missions.”
According to Li, up to 22 full-length technological renovations have been done during the past three years “in order to forge a more favorable environment for launching manned spaceships in future.”
More mature system
Zheng Wei, assistant chief designer of spacecraft system, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, points out:
“Shenzhou-11 has inherited all the tried and true features of its predecessors of Shenzhou-8, -9 and -10. It is therefore of confirmed stability, higher reliability and more maturity.”
Zheng adds that if there are fewer people on board the Shenzhou, “we can transport more cargo in the stead for to-go and to-come-back trips with materials for space experimentation.”
China’s Shenzhou-11 piloted spacecraft being readied for launch mid-October.
Credit: CCTV via China Spaceflight
At present, Jiuquan is China’s one and only launch site for human space flights. The center has recently undergone a three-year thorough revamp which has transformed it into a better facility for launching manned spacecrafts, according to Chinese space officials.
Video resources
A set of CCTV-Plus videos is available showing the Shenzhou-11 arrival at Jiuquan; launch site preparations; and features of the soon-to-launch piloted spacecraft at:
Posted in Space News
