Can China enter the international space family?

China has become only the third nation in the world to have a manned space program. Photo: Chine

[/caption]

It has often been called a ‘100 billion boondoggle’ – yet it is also unquestionably one of the most successful international programs in human history. The International Space Station (ISS) is just now starting to produce some of the valuable science that was the station’s selling point from the beginning. However, this delay can be attributed to the numerous tragedies, economic woes and other issues that have arisen on a global scale through the course of the station’s construction.

The one thing that the world learned early on from the ISS experience is that space is a great forum for diplomacy. One time arch-rivals now work side by side on a daily basis.

With much of the nations of the world talking about stepped-up manned exploration efforts it would seem only natural that the successful model used on the space station be incorporated into the highly-expensive business of manned space exploration. If so, then one crucial player is being given a hard look to see if they should be included – China.

Will we one day see Chinese taikonauts working alongside U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts? Only time will tell. Photo Credit: NASA

“International partnership in space exploration has proven its worth over the last decade. It would be a positive step if the other space-faring nation of the world, China, were to join the assembled space explorers of humankind as we march outward into the solar system,” said former NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale who writes a popular blog about space matters.

China is only the third nation (behind Russia and the United States) to have a successful manned space program, having launched its first successful manned space flight in 2003. This first mission only had a single person onboard, and gave the world a new word – ‘taikonaut’ (taikong is the Chinese word for space). The country’s next mission contained two of these taikonauts and took place in 2005. The third and most current manned mission that China has launched was launched in 2008 and held a crew of three.

Yang Liwei became the first of China's Taikonaut when he rocketed into orbit in 2003. Photo Credit: Xinhua

China has steadily, but surely, built and tested capabilities essential for a robust manned space program. Considering that China very ambitious goals for space this would seem a prudent course of action. China has stated publically that they want to launch a space station and send their taikonauts to the moon – neither of which are small feats.

China currently utilizes its Shenzhou spacecraft atop the Long March 2F booster from their Jiuquan facility. However, if China wants to accomplish these goals, they will need a more powerful booster. This has been part of the reason that the U.S. has been hesitant to include China due to concerns about the use of what are known as dual-use technologies (rockets that can launch astronauts can also launch nuclear weapons).

Both China's rocket and spacecraft are derived from Soviet Soyuz designs. Photo Credit: Xinhua/Wang Jianmin

Some have raised concerns about the nation’s human rights track record. It should be noted however that Russia had similar issues before being included in the International Space Station program.

“In the early 1990’s, some at NASA thought having Russian cosmonauts on the Space Shuttle would mean giving away trade secrets to the competition,” said Pat Duggins, author of the book Trailblazing Mars. “It turned out Russian crew capsules saved the International Space Station when the Shuttles were grounded after the Columbia accident in 2003. So, never say never on China, I guess.”

Duggins is not the only space expert who feels that China would make a good companion when mankind once again ventures out past low-Earth-orbit.

“One of the findings of the Augustine Commission was that the international framework that came out of the ISS program is one of the most important. It should be used and expanded upon for use in international beyond-LEO human space exploration,” said Dr. Leroy Chiao a veteran of four launches and a member of the second Augustine Commission. “My personal belief is that countries like China, which is only the third nation able to launch astronauts, should be included. My hope is that the politics will align soon, to allow such collaboration, using the experience that the US has gained in working with Russia to bring it about.”

Not everyone is completely convinced that China will be as valuable an asset as the Russians have proven themselves to be however.

“It is an interesting scenario with respect to the Chinese participation in an international effort in space. The U.S. has made some tremendous strides in terms of historical efforts to bridge the gap with the Russians and the results have been superb,” said Robert Springer a two-time space shuttle veteran. “The work that has resulted in the successful completion of the International Space Station is an outstanding testimony to what can be done when political differences are set aside in the interest of International cooperation. So, there is a good model of how to proceed, driven somewhat by economic realities as well as politics. I am not convinced that the economic and political scenario bodes well for similar results with the Chinese. It is a worthwhile goal to pursue, but I am personally not convinced that a similar outcome will be the result, at least not in the current environment.”

China's journey into space has just begun, but it remains to be seen if they will be going it alone or as part of a partnership. Photo Credit: Xinhua

Cool Chang’E 2 Videos

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society blog unearthed some really cool videos taken by the Chinese Chang’E 2 spacecraft at the Moon. The five engineering videos include Chang’E 2’s solar panel deployment, orbit insertion burn, the first and second orbital trim maneuvers, and low lunar orbit. They are all especially unique in that the video not only includes images from the Moon’s surface, but also the spacecraft itself can be seen, providing a perspective that is not often seen. The video above is of Chang’E 2’s second orbit trim maneuver. Check out Emily’s post to see all five, plus she provides great insights into the video clips, as well.

First Images From Chang’E 2 Released

A lunar crater in stunning detail from the Chang'E 2 orbiter. Credit: CNSA / China Lunar Exploration Program

[/caption]

China’s space agency released the first images taken by the newest lunar orbiter, Chang’E 2. “The relaying back of the pictures shows that the Chang’e-2 mission is a success,” said Zhang Jiahao, director of the lunar exploration center of the China National Space Administration.

During its expected 6-month mission the orbiter will come within 15km above the surface, with the main mission of looking for potential landing for Chang’E-3, China’s next lunar mission that will send a rover to the Moon’s surface, scheduled for 2013. While all the other images are of Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows), a rough translation of the writing on this top image has something to do with “antarctic,” so its possible this could be a crater near one of the lunar poles.

This 3-D map view of the moon’s Bay of Rainbows was taken by China’s Chang’e 2 lunar probe in October 2010. The mission is China’s second robotic mission to explore the moon. Credit: China Lunar Exploration Program

The data for this 3D image was taken by a the spacecraft’s stereo camera from 18.7 km on Oct. 28, four days after launch. The image has a resolution of 1.3 meters per pixel, more than ten times the resolution of pictures from Chang’E 2’s predecessor, Chang’E 1.

For comparison, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has a resolution of about 1 meter.

Sinus Iridum is considered to be one of the candidates for the 2013 lander.

Chang’E 2 will also test “soft landing” technology for the lander, which might mean that either the spacecraft is carrying an impactor or that the spacecraft itself will be crashed into the lunar surface like Chang’E 1.

This photo, taken by China’s Chang’e 2 lunar probe in October 2010, shows a crater in the moon’s Bay of Rainbows. . Credit: China Lunar Exploration Program
Another Chang'E 2 image. Credit: Credit: China Lunar Exploration Program

Sources: NASA Lunar Science Institute, China National Space Administration

China Launches Second Moon Mission

China successfully launched their second robotic mission, Chang’E-2, to the Moon. A Long March 3C rocket blasted off from Xichang launch center just before 1100 GMT on October 1. The satellite is scheduled to reach the Moon in five days, and so far, all the telemetry shows everything to be working as planned. It will take some time for Chang’E-2 to settle into its 100-km (60-mile) orbit above the lunar surfaces, although the China space agency also said the spacecraft will come as close as 15km above the surface during its mission in order to take high-resolution imagery of potential landing sites for Chang’E-3, China’s next lunar mission that will send a rover to the Moon’s surface, scheduled for 2013.
Continue reading “China Launches Second Moon Mission”

Two Chinese Satellites Rendezvous in Orbit

The six SJ-06 series satellites in Earth orbit. Credit: The Space Review

[/caption]

Data from the US military shows that two Chinese satellites likely performed multiple rendezvous 600 kilometers above Earth this summer, and may have even bumped into each other. The rendezvous have taken place over the past several months, between two Chinese “Shi Jian” (Practice) spacecraft, SJ-06F and SJ-12, that are officially listed as science satellites.

News of the Chinese satellite encounters was first reported by a Russian news source in mid-August, and this week Brian Weeden from the Secure World Foundation wrote an extensive article for The Space Review.

Weeden said the maneuvers could be a rehearsal for the technology needed to build a space station, but it also shows China may now have the ability to approach and potentially interfere with other satellites.
“On-orbit rendezvous is a complex operation, and one that has only been done a few of times before, most notably by the US satellite XSS-11,” Weeden wrote, “which inspected the rocket body that placed it in LEO, and one of the US MiTEx satellites, which inspected the failed DSP-23 satellite in GEO. The rendezvous of two Chinese satellites demonstrates that China is broadening its space capabilities, but also touches on the greater issue of perceptions, trust, and safety in space activities that could impact the long-term sustainability of the space regime.”

Weeden said US military data suggests that one satellite may have been bumped and its orbit altered slightly on August 19. The change in its orbit can’t be explained by the usual things that affect satellites, such as the drag from the Earth’s atmosphere.

In January 2007, China destroyed a derelict satellite with a ballistic missile, which the US also did in February 2008.

For now, one can only speculate about the reasons for China performing these types of difficult and rare maneuvers with their satellites. You can read more about the technical nature of the events on The Space Review.

China Looking Towards Manned Lunar Landing

Artist concept of a Chinese lunar mission. Credit: Xinhua

[/caption]
A Chinese space scientist said that his country is considering the feasibility of a manned lunar landing mission sometime between 2025 and 2030. China is also planning a sample return mission to the Moon by 2017, said Ye Peijian, chief designer of the China’s Chang’e Project. “Through the development of lunar probes, we have made constant progress of the ability to explore the outer space,” Ye was quoted as saying by the China News Service.

Chang’e -1 launched successfully in 2007 and orbited the Moon for 16 months before conducting a controlled impact on the Moon’s surface earlier this year. The satellite mapped and created three-dimensional images of the lunar surface. Several performance tests were carried out while Chang’e-1 was in orbit to give engineers experience in orbit adjustment, and to test the spacecraft’s capability.

According to Ye, China will launch the second lunar probe Chang’e-2 in 2010 which will conduct research at a 100-kilometer-high moon orbit as the preparation for a soft landing by using variable thrusters with the Chang’e-3, which will include a lunar rover, currently in development.

The rover will work on the moon’s surface for three months, Ye said, adding scientists have decided to adopt isotope generator to provide energy for the rover when it is in lunar nights when temperatures drop to 200 Celsius degrees below zero.

The sample return mission will be able to gather two kilograms of lunar samples and launch a return capsule from the Moon back to Earth.

All of these incremental steps would lead to a human mission to the moon, likely to be similar to NASA’s Apollo missions. During the timeframe China is hoping to bring humans to the moon, the US is also hoping to return to the lunar surface with long duration missions with the new Constellation program.

Source: People’s Daily Online

Will US Astronauts Ride Chinese Rockets?

Long March rocket launching the Shenzhou 5. Credit: Wikimedia

[/caption]
The White House is reviewing possible options where NASA astronauts could catch rides to the International Space Station on Chinese rockets, according to an article in the Huntsville (Alabama) Times. The Times quoted President Barack Obama’s new science adviser, John Holdren, in an interview last week that using the Chinese National Space Agency’s Shenzhou spacecraft “should not be ruled out” during the interim between the retirement of the space shuttles and when the new Ares rocket and Orion capsule are ready to go. NASA’s plans are to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets from 2010, the planned shuttle retirement, to 2015, the tentatively scheduled first manned mission of Ares. Other options are possible commercial ferry flights to the International Space Station from the winners of the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) contracts. But could China be in the mix, as well?

NASA has been paying the Russian space agency $21.8 million per passenger for flights on the Soyuz, and that cost will likely rise. Some space experts says that agreements, and even an eventual partnership with the Chinese, could keep prices lower, as well as and establish diplomatic ties to the nation. Victoria Samson, a space and defense expert with the Colorado-based Secure World Foundation was quoted by the Huntsville Times, “It’s a great idea to reach out to China. (NASA) is looking at a lot of options because the ones they have aren’t working well. The Russians are working on a follow-up to the Soyuz, and complications like this can keep everyone in line.”

Former NASA astronaut LeRoy Chaio wrote last year as a guest blogger on Discovery.com/Space that cooperating with China “certainly makes sense. Space is a good place to start a policy shift, as the United States showed with Russia in the early 1990s… China is emerging as a true world power, both economically and technologically. … It is important to take the global view because isolationism has long been obsolete. The U.S. should find mutually beneficial areas such as space to cooperate in, and turn our Chinese adversary into a friend.”

But if NASA wants to extend a cooperative hand to China’s space agency, it might encounter political as well as technical roadblocks. Laws such as the ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulation) trade laws have barred some transfer of technology to China, and would have to be amended to hand over the information China would need to modify its Shenzhou vehicle to dock with the ISS. China would also have to be able to produce more of the spacecraft than it currently does.

Sources: Huntsville Times, Discovery Space

Chang’e 1 Bites the (Moon) Dust

An artist image shows China's lunar orbiter Chang'e I impacted the moon. Credit: people.com.cn

[/caption]
Chang’e-1, China’s first lunar probe successfully concluded its mission early March 1 by impacting the surface of the Moon at 8:13 GMT. The satellite conducted a 16-month mission, mapping and creating three-dimensional images of the lunar surface. The planned impact was designed to help China gather experience for landing a subsequent lunar probe. China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said the spacecraft hit the lunar surface at 1.50 degrees south latitude and 52.36 degrees east longitude.

Several performance tests were carried out while Chang’e-1 was in orbit to give engineers experience in orbit adjustment, and to test the spacecraft’s capability. It’s also difficult for satellites to remain in lunar orbit for long periods of time because of the usual concentrations of mass or “mascons” within the Moon, which also distort satellite orbits, causing spacecraft to ultimately impact the surface.

“The second phase of the space program aims at soft landing, and the preparation is currently in progress”, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of the country’s lunar probe program.

A 3D image of lunar terrain. Credit: China's Chang'e-1 lunar orbiter.
A 3D image of lunar terrain. Credit: China's Chang'e-1 lunar orbiter.

Chang’e 1 is the first phase of China’s three-stage moon mission. In 2012, China hopes to land a rover vehicle on the Moon, and by around 2017 they hope to have a sample return mission from the Moon.

Chang’e-1 was launched on Oct. 24, 2007.

Congratulations to China and the Chang’e 1 team for a successful mission.

Source: Xinhua.net

China’s First Spacewalk a Success (Video)

Zhai Zhigang exits the Shenzhou-7 capsule with Earth overhead (Xinhua/BBC)

[/caption]It’s official, China has become the third nation to successfully carry out a spacewalk in Earth orbit. Fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang was the first to exit the Shenzhou-7 module at 16:30 Beijing Time (08:30 GMT), as the Chinese space agency streamed live video of the event. Zhai lifted himself through the hatch and waved at the camera attached to the service module on the outside of the craft, with Earth looming overhead. Shortly after, crew mate Liu Boming emerged to hand Zhai a small Chinese flag which he waved enthusiastically. The extra-vehicular activity (EVA) lasted for about 15 minutes. At the start of the EVA, Zhai said, “I’m feeling quite well. I greet the Chinese people and the people of the world.”

Shenzhou-7 was launched by a Long March II-F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province of China on Thursday, carrying Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng into space on the three-day mission. The principal objective was to successfully complete a spacewalk, paving the way for a Chinese orbital outpost and eventual mission to the Moon within the decade. It would appear the mission was a success, allowing China into an exclusive club of only three nations ever to have carried out orbital activities in a space suit.

Watch China’s first ever space walk »

Zhai and Liu wore a Chinese-designed spacesuit called “Feitian” (which literally translates as “Fly in the Sky”), thought to cost between £5m and £20m ($10m-$40m) apiece. The third taikonaut (or “yuhangyuan”) Jing Haipeng, remained inside Shenzhou-7 wearing a Russian-made Orlan suit.

Whilst outside the craft, attached via an umbilical cable, Zhai retrieved a test sample of solid lubricant attached to the outside of the module before they were launched. He passed the sample to Liu. Once the handover was complete, 16 minutes into the EVA, both men re-entered the capsule.

Zhai, now China’s first man to ever carry out an EVA in Earth orbit, will celebrate his 42nd birthday next month. Prior to enrolling in China’s manned space programme, he was an air force pilot, and before then the official Chinese news agency was keen to highlight that Zhai “grew up in dirt-poor hardship with five siblings in the country’s far northeast,” and he “dreamed of flying into space when he was an impoverished teenager.”

This is an amazing achievement that will only boost the space-faring confidence of the Chinese. Perhaps the first Chinese Moon base isn’t that far off after all

Sources: BBC, Xinhua

China Launches Manned Spacecraft

Shenzhou-7 launch. Credit: Xinhuanet

[/caption]

China successfully launched its third manned spacecraft today with three astronauts on board. During the mission, they will attempt the country’s first-ever space walk. The Long March II-F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province at 9:10 p.m. local time. Onboard pilots Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are will orbit Earth for three days. The astronauts, called taikonauts, told the ground control center that they felt “physically sound” in the first few minutes of the flight.

Two of the taikonauts will conduct a spacewalk, wearing Chinese-made spacesuits called Feitian which literally means flying in the sky, and is the name of a legendary Buddhist goddess. They will retrieve test samples loaded on the outside of the spacecraft, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the country’s manned space project.

“We wish we could fly freely in space just like Feitian on the ancient Buddhist murals, so we gave this name to the homemade spacesuit,” said Zhou.

Chinese taikonauts inside Shenzou 7.  Credit: Xinhuanet
Chinese taikonauts inside Shenzou 7. Credit: Xinhuanet

The third taikonaut will remain inside the pressurized spacecraft, and will wear a Russian Orlan suit.

Other tasks of the Shenzhou-7 crew include the release of a small monitoring satellite and a trial of the data relay of the satellite Tianlian-I.

If successful, the mission would be of great significance to the country’s future plans to build a space lab and a space station, said Zhang Jianqi, deputy chief commander of the manned space project. “China pursues the principle of making peaceful use of space in its exploration and development,” Zhang said, adding the country was willing to carry out various forms of international cooperation in space exploration.

The taikonauts, all 42 years old, are scheduled to land in the central region of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in a re-entry module after their mission is completed

Source: Xinhuanet